Cold Storage Alaska
John Straley, 2014
Soho Press
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781616953065
Summary
An offbeat, often hilarious crime novel set in the sleepy Alaskan town of Cold Storage from the Shamus Award winning author of the Cecil Younger series.
Cold Storage, Alaska, is a remote fishing outpost where salmonberries sparkle in the morning frost and where you just might catch a King Salmon if you’re zen enough to wait for it. Settled in 1935 by Norse fishermen who liked to skinny dip in its natural hot springs, the town enjoyed prosperity at the height of the frozen fish boom. But now the cold storage plant is all but abandoned and the town is withering.
Clive “The Milkman” McCahon returns to his tiny Alaska hometown after a seven-year jail stint for dealing coke. He has a lot to make up to his younger brother, Miles, who has dutifully been taking care of their ailing mother. But Clive doesn’t realize the trouble he’s bringing home. His vengeful old business partner is hot on his heels, a stick-in-the-mud State Trooper is dying to bust Clive for narcotics, and, to complicate everything, Clive might be going insane—lately, he’s been hearing animals talking to him.
Will his arrival in Cold Storage be a breath of fresh air for the sleepy, depopulated town? Or will Clive’s arrival turn the whole place upside down? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—Redwood, California, USA
• Rasied—Seattle, Washington
• Education—B.A., University of Washington
• Awards—Shamus Award; Spotted Owl Award
• Currently—lives in Sitka, Alsaka
John Straley is a poet and author of detective fiction. He currently resides in Sitka, Alaska.
Born in Redwood City, California, Starley grew up in the Seattle, Washingon, area and attended high school in New York City. Straley trained, with encouragement from his parents, to be a horseshoer He attended Grinnell College before transferring to the University of Washington for a degree in writing.
After college and a stint in Eastern Washington, he followed his wife to Sitka, Alaska in 1977. After moving through a number of jobs he became a private investigator and, in 1985, a staff investigator for the Alaska Public Defender. As an investigator, he continued to write.
After being turned down by publishers numerous times, in 1991 he received a tip from friend and anthropologist Richard Nelson that New York City-based Soho Press was interested in detective fiction novels. Upon submitting his manuscript for The Woman Who Married a Bear, Soho Press expressed interest in his work. After a successful run of mysteries that has garnered critical acclaim, he is now looking outside of his trademark Cecil Younger series for future books.
In 2006, he was named writer laureate for the State of Alaska; he served in that position until 2008.
In 2008, Alaska Northwest Books published Straley's The Big Both Ways, a historical fiction work based in the Pacific Northwest. Since then his work has been primarily in creating poetry, except for his 2014 crime story, Cold Storage, Alaska.
Writing
Cecil Younger series
• 1992 - The Woman Who Married a Bear, Shamus Award
• 1993 - The Curious Eat Themselves
• 1996 - The Music of What Happens, Spotted Owl Award
• 1997 - Death and the Language of Happiness
• 1998 - The Angels Will not Care
• 2001 - Cold Water Burning
Later books
• 2008 - The Big Both Ways
• 2008 - The Rising and the Rain
• 2014 - Storage, Alaska
Short stories
• "Life Before the War" - published in Men from Boys
• "Finding Lou" - published in The Mysterious North
Essays
• Numerous essays, published in The Nation and Alaska magazine
• "Love, Crime and Joyriding on a Dead-End Road"—published in The Book of the Tongass (1999) (Author bio rom Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/26/2014.)
Book Reviews
Straley strikes the perfect balance of humor and pathos in this story about the McCahon brothers.
New York Times Book Review
[Straley] writes crime novels populated by perpetrators whose hearts are filled with more poetry than evil.
Wall Street Journal
An in-depth look at small-town life… If you think winter in St. Louis is uncomfortable, try winter in Cold Storage, Alaska.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Straley isn’t prolific, but when he does publish a book it’s a gem... The crime aspect of Cold Storage, Alaska is pretty casual. Straley’s mostly interested in his characters and how they interact on a personal level.... It’s always a pleasure to read Straley’s vivid studies of these folks—the slightly cracked, rugged and very funny characters of the Far North.
Seattle Times
[Cold Storage, Alaska] is part crime story, part screwball comedy, peopled with characters you long to spend more time with.
Daily Mail (UK)
Surprisingly moving.... Straley’s lean prose and snappy dialogue—not to mention the book’s few scenes of swift, hard-boiled violence—will likely remind many readers of Elmore Leonard’s classic crime novels.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Kind, smart and deeply moving… Cold Storage, Alaska is certainly a wild mystery in the vein of Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty years or all of Carl Hiaasen, it is just as much an homage to small towns and the people who fill them. What elevates Straley above so much of the competition is how very much he cares about the people and places he writes about.
Alaska Dispatch
Straley reveals his characters with unflinching pride and doesn’t mock or belittle their unique take on life… His description of the human condition as played out by his band of characters ranges from pathetic to amazingly humorous… A joy to read.
Durango Herald
[A]fter serving seven years of a 10-year sentence for drug dealing... [Clive McCahon's] problems are far from over. Aspiring Hollywood screenwriter Jake Shoemaker, his violent partner in crime, wants the large sum that Clive has squirreled away, and Jake won’t take no for an answer.... While there’s little actual mystery, most readers will enjoy spending time with the eccentric residents of Cold Storage.
Publishers Weekly
The nature of small-town life is perfectly rendered here, as are the wonders of coastal Alaska. Not quite as madcap as Carl Hiassen..., Straley's latest adventure in America's last frontier should appeal to those authors' fans as well as those who appreciate an unusual location and set of characters in their mysteries. —Dan Forrest, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Library Journal
A story of a town with nothing much to offer but rain, salmon fishing, drink and gossip--but that's plenty for Straley to work with. Cold Storage may be "a town that gloried in [its] bad habits... clinging to the side of the mountains with no roads, no cars, and virtually no sense of the outer world," but in Straley's hands, it is rich in character, music, humor and compassion.
Shelf Awareness
Straley, author of The Big Both Ways, has created a wonderfully evocative place in Cold Storage. His evocation of nature and human nature approaches the lyrical, and he seems guided by Faulkner’s dictum that the only thing truly worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself.
Booklist
The cast of eccentric characters, the sharp, witty dialogue, and the chaotic, frenzied pace of the narrative would do Preston Sturges proud. Readers looking for edge-of-your-seat suspense should look elsewhere, but those who like their crime with a healthy side of humor could hardly do better. Quirky, funny and compulsively readable.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Straley is often identified as a crime novelist, but he is quick to self-identify as an “oddball” of the genre. Is Cold Storage, Alaska crime fiction? Why or why not?
2. While in prison, Clive finds religion, but also picks up the unusual ability to hear animals speak. Do you think Clive is actually able to communicate with animals or is it an expression of something else? How does your response and its counterpoint affect your reading of the book?
3. Straley is often praised for his ability to infuse a sense of place into his novels, especially when he writes about Alaska. Did his descriptions of Cold Storage and rural Alaska feel true? Was it the Alaska you expected?
4. The popular joke in the town about the doctor who offers to boil an egg for his soon-to-be-dead patient displays a certain fatalism, a key part of Cold Storage’s identity and a central theme in the novel. Where else is this acquiescence to fate or destiny on display in the book?
5. If Cold Storage, Alaska were made into a movie, who would you cast as Miles and Clive?
6. Miles and Clive both left town and returned for different reasons: Clive for his fresh start and Miles for a life of quiet, but of course, neither gets what they are looking for. Even so, do you think the brothers ever seem to settle on a notion of “home?”
7. Of small Alaskan villages and the alcoholism and isolation they often engender, Straley’s writes, “In any northern village there is a darkness lurking.” Is Cold Storage ultimately a place of darkness or light?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Divorce Papers
Susan Rieger, 2014
Crown Publisher
480 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780804137447
Summary
Witty and wonderful, sparkling and sophisticated, this debut romantic comedy brilliantly tells the story of one very messy, very high-profile divorce, and the endearingly cynical young lawyer dragooned into handling it.
Twenty-nine-year-old Sophie Diehl is happy toiling away as a criminal law associate at an old line New England firm where she very much appreciates that most of her clients are behind bars. Everyone at Traynor, Hand knows she abhors face-to-face contact, but one weekend, with all the big partners away, Sophie must handle the intake interview for the daughter of the firm’s most important client.
After eighteen years of marriage, Mayflower descendant Mia Meiklejohn Durkheim has just been served divorce papers in a humiliating scene at the popular local restaurant, Golightly’s. She is locked and loaded to fight her eminent and ambitious husband, Dr. Daniel Durkheim, Chief of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, for custody of their ten-year-old daughter Jane—and she also burns to take him down a peg. Sophie warns Mia that she’s never handled a divorce case before, but Mia can’t be put off. As she so disarmingly puts it: It’s her first divorce, too.
Debut novelist Susan Rieger doesn’t leave a word out of place in this hilarious and expertly crafted debut that shines with the power and pleasure of storytelling. Told through personal correspondence, office memos, emails, articles, and legal papers, this playful reinvention of the epistolary form races along with humor and heartache, exploring the complicated family dynamic that results when marriage fails.
For Sophie, the whole affair sparks a hard look at her own relationships—not only with her parents, but with colleagues, friends, lovers, and most importantly, herself. Much like Where’d You Go, Bernadette, The Divorce Papers will have you laughing aloud and thanking the literature gods for this incredible, fresh new voice in fiction. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
Susan Reiger is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She has worked as a residential college dean at Yale and an associate provost at Columbia. She has taught law to undergraduates at both schools and written frequently about the law for newspapers and magazines. She lives in New York City with her husband. The Divorce Papers is her first novel. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Susan Rieger's smart and wonderfully entertaining domestic comedy, with all its shifts of tone from the personal to the legal and a lot in between, takes up [the age-old marriage] problem and makes it fresh and lively—and in some places so painful...you don't want to go on. But you do. The power and canniness of this bittersweet work of epistolary fiction pulls you along.
Allen Cheuse - NPR
With a sharp take on the dissolution of a high-profile marriage, Rieger’s hilarious debut is sure to be a must-read for the summer—if you can wait that long.
Entertainment Weekly.com
Susan Rieger brings her real-life experience as a lawyer to the table in this debut romantic comedy that’s written, refreshingly, in the epistolary style.
Cosmopolitan.com
(Starred review.) In Rieger’s clever and funny debut—an epistolary novel told through memos, e-mails, and letters—Sophie Diehl is a criminal lawyer...juggling family dynamics, nasty interoffice politics, and the ups and downs of her own romantic life.... Rieger’s tone, textured structure, and lively voice make this debut a winner.
Publishers Weekly
Witty and engaging... The Divorce Papers is a sharp read and an impressive debut. [Rieger’s] prose—peppered with literary, historical and philosophical references—is whip smart.
BookPage
Rieger presents her story in epistolary fashion...giving the novel an almost voyeuristic feel. Where Rieger excels is with her characters. Sophie and her crowd are witty, insightful, and interesting people. Although the legal documentation gets heavy at times... [it is] a refreshing and absorbing read. —Carol Gladstein
Booklist
(Starred review.) A brutally comic chronicle of high-end divorce.... Brilliant 29-year-old Sophie Diehl is an up-and-coming criminal defense lawyer... [when] the daughter of one of [her firm's] wealthiest clients has been served divorce papers by her husband of 18 years.... Rieger pulls out every legal document connected to the case.... Extremely clever, especially the legal infighting.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Is Sophie a good lawyer? Why? Why not?
2. At the beginning of the novel, Sophie feels she’s “treading water.” Why does Sophie seem to be having so much trouble finding her way? How does this change as the novel progresses?
3. Both of Sophie’s parents are European. How has that influenced who she is?
4. Why does Maggie put up with Sophie? Would you?
5. Is Dr. Durkheim the book’s “villain”? Why do you think he wanted a divorce? Do you think he knew about Jacques? Did your opinion of him change over time?
6. Mia confesses she initially withheld some information from Sophie. She also has a flair for the dramatic and loves to tell a good story. Do you believe her version of events? In an epistolary novel, how do you decide who is a reliable narrator?
7. Are Mia and Daniel equally to blame for the failure of their marriage? Do you think their marriage could have been saved?
8. Mia loved living and working in New York City, but she moved to New Salem for Daniel and his job. What were the trade-offs at that time? Do they seem worthwhile in retrospect?
9. What do you think was going on at the firm with Fiona? Why was she so hostile toward Sophie at the beginning? Did you agree with Fiona that her reprimand was unfair? Sexist?
10. Will or Harry?
11. There are three father-daughter relationships, all difficult: Mia and Bruce Meiklejohn; Sophie and John Diehl; Jane and Daniel Durkheim. Do they change over time? If so, what makes the change happen? If not, what is the sticking point?
12. There are two mother-daughter relationships: Elisabeth and Sophie and Mia and Jane. In what ways are these stronger than the father-daughter relationships? Weaker?
13. What do you think of the decision to give custody to Bruce in the event Mia dies before Jane is eighteen? Was Mia right to insist on that? How do you think Daniel felt?
14. Is the separation agreement fair and reasonable? Who came out better, if anyone?
15. What’s next for Mia? For Sophie?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
The Traitor's Wife
Allison Pataki, 2014
Howard Books
496 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781476738604
Summary
A riveting historical novel about Peggy Shippen Arnold, the cunning wife of Benedict Arnold and mastermind behind America’s most infamous act of treason.
Everyone knows Benedict Arnold—the Revolutionary War general who betrayed America and fled to the British—as history’s most notorious turncoat. Many know Arnold’s co-conspirator, Major John Andre, who was apprehended with Arnold’s documents in his boots and hanged at the orders of General George Washington.
But few know of the integral third character in the plot: a charming young woman who not only contributed to the betrayal but orchestrated it.
Socialite Peggy Shippen is half Benedict Arnold’s age when she seduces the war hero during his stint as military commander of Philadelphia. Blinded by his young bride’s beauty and wit, Arnold does not realize that she harbors a secret: loyalty to the British. Nor does he know that she hides a past romance with the handsome British spy John Andre.
Peggy watches as her husband, crippled from battle wounds and in debt from years of service to the colonies, grows ever more disillusioned with his hero, Washington, and the American cause. Together with her former love and her disaffected husband, Peggy hatches the plot to deliver West Point to the British and, in exchange, win fame and fortune for herself and Arnold.
Told from the perspective of Peggy’s maid, whose faith in the new nation inspires her to intervene in her mistress’s affairs even when it could cost her everything, The Traitor’s Wife brings these infamous figures to life, illuminating the sordid details and the love triangle that nearly destroyed the American fight for freedom. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1984
• Raised—Garrison, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Yale University
• Currently—lives in Chicago, Illinois
Allison Pataki is an American author and journalist and the daughter of former governor of New York, George Pataki (served 1995-2006). She was raised in Garrison, New York, across the Hudson River from West Point Military Academy, and later majored in English at Yale University. She met her husband David Levy during her sophomore, and the two married in June 2012.
Pataki has written several historical novels: The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America (2014), The Accidental Empress (2015), Sisi: Empress on Her Own (2016), and Where the Light Falls: A Novel of the French Revolution (2017), which she co-authored with her brother Owen.
In addition to historical fiction, Allison has written for ABCNews.com, The Huffington Post, FoxNews.com, Travel Girl, and other media outlets. In 2016 she wrote an article for the New York Times detailing her family's experience with traumatic brain injury and the road to recovery.
In 2015, Pataki co-founded reConnect Hungary, an educational and social immersion program for young adults of Hungarian heritage, who are born in the U.S. or Canada, to gain a better understanding of their Hungarian heritage. hh(Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 7/15/2017.)
Book Reviews
Through the eyes of a fictional lady’s maid, the historical figures of Peggy Arnold and her husband, Benedict—yes, the traitor—come to life in this debut historical novel.... Clara and her fellow servants, who embody the spirit of the everyday patriot citizen, are written with detail and depth.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) A young lady's maid is witness to Benedict Arnold and his wife's treachery in this fictional account set during the American War for Independence.... Those familiar with U.S. history may already know how Arnold's saga unfurls, but the author's interpretation of events offers fresh perspective, plenty of intrigue and a host of interesting, multidimensional characters.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. Before moving to Philadelphia, Clara spent her entire life on a farm in the Pennsylvania countryside. How does Clara’s identity evolve throughout her years of service to Peggy and Benedict Arnold? What character traits does Clara retain? Discuss which characters have the greatest impact on Clara’s growth and development.
2. Why does Clara take a nearly instant dislike to Major John Andre? Why is she relieved when the Judge and Mrs. Shippen refuse to allow Peggy to attend the Meshianza? Compare the way Andre treats Peggy with how Caleb treats Clara.
3. Clara is flattered at “having so quickly become her lady’s confidante and friend” (page 119). Does Peggy sincerely consider Clara a friend, or is Clara misreading her mistress? Why does Clara so desperately crave Peggy’s approval, and even friendship? At what point does this begin to shift?
4. Discuss the theme of loyalty in the novel. What drives the different characters’ allegiances? Who is the most loyal character?
5. “I hate the man, and I always will,” says Peggy of Benedict Arnold (page 146). Why then does she begin pursuing him the first time they meet? Does she truly come to care about him, or is it all an act?
6. What is your view of Benedict Arnold? Trace his evolution from ardent patriot to turncoat. Do you think he would have committed treason without Peggy’s influence? Why or why not? Discuss both his and Peggy’s motivations for aiding the British.
7. “My husband knows how to win on the battlefield. It’s all brute strength and fighting. But spy work is different—it requires poise, and self-control, and grace. It’s like a delicate dance. And if anyone knows how to dance, it’s me,” says Peggy (page 326). Which traits make Peggy better suited for espionage than Arnold? Why does the couple freely discuss their plans in front of Clara? Is it because they trust her not to reveal their secrets or, as Clara believes, because they find her invisible?
8. When Arnold’s treachery is revealed, he immediately flees and leaves Peggy behind. Given the circumstances, are his actions justifiable in any way? Why doesn’t Peggy hold it against him? Share whether or not you were surprised that Peggy was able to so easily convince George Washington and his companions of her innocence.
9. Does Clara intentionally or unintentionally help the Arnolds commit treason by cracking Andre’s code and translating the clandestine correspondence? Does her role make Clara partly to blame? What would you have done if you were in her position?
10. At one point in the story, Clara laments that she is not the master of her own fate. How do she and Caleb take charge of their future, both individually and as a couple? Discuss Clara’s warring emotions of impotency and desperation to intervene in the Arnolds’ plot.
11. When Clara confides in Mrs. Quigley about the Arnolds’ plotting, why is the older woman so quick to dismiss her claims? When Mrs. Quigley later understands exactly what’s happening, why does she still advise against Clara and Caleb taking action to stop the Arnolds? Explore how Mrs. Quigley’s response to the news differs from Caleb’s response to the news. Does either of them understand Clara’s position and perspective?
12. Examine the character of George Washington. Why does the novel open on the morning of his visit? What does George Washington mean to Benedict Arnold? To Peggy Arnold? To the servants like Hannah, Caleb, Clara, or the Quigleys? Discuss whether George Washington’s disapproval was the impetus for Arnold to agree to treason.
13. How does Clara use tactics she learned from observing her mistress to achieve her freedom from Peggy? What gives Clara the strength and courage to stand up to the imposing Peggy? Would Clara actually have reported Peggy’s guilt, or was it a bluff?
14. When news comes that Arnold successfully escaped, why is Clara relieved he won’t hang for his crimes? Why does she promise to keep quiet about Peggy’s role in the plot?
15. In what ways did The Traitor’s Wife give you new insights into the Revolutionary War? What, if anything, did you learn that surprised you?
(Questions by the publisher.)
A Star for Mrs. Blake
April Smith, 2014
Knopf Doubleday
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780307958846
Summary
The United States Congress in 1929 passed legislation to fund travel for mothers of the fallen soldiers of World War I to visit their sons’ graves in France. Over the next three years, 6,693 Gold Star Mothers made the trip. In this emotionally charged, brilliantly realized novel, April Smith breathes life into a unique moment in American history, imagining the experience of five of these women.
They are strangers at the start, but their lives will become inextricably intertwined, altered in indelible ways. These very different Gold Star Mothers travel to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery to say final good-byes to their sons and come together along the way to face the unexpected: a death, a scandal, and a secret revealed.
None of these pilgrims will be as affected as Cora Blake, who has lived almost her entire life in a small fishing village off the coast of Maine, caring for her late sister’s three daughters, hoping to fill the void left by the death of her son, Sammy, who was killed on a scouting mission during the final days of the war. Cora believes she is managing as well as can be expected in the midst of the Depression, but nothing has prepared her for what lies ahead on this unpredictable journey, including an extraordinary encounter with an expatriate American journalist, Griffin Reed, who was wounded in the trenches and hides behind a metal mask, one of hundreds of “tin noses” who became symbols of the war.
With expert storytelling, memorable characters, and beautiful prose, April Smith gives us a timeless story, by turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, set against a footnote of history—little known, yet unforgettable. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1950
• Raised—New York, New York, USA
• Education—B.S. Boston University; M.F.A., Standord University
• Currently—lives in Santa Monica, California
April Smith is the author of the successful novels featuring FBI Special Agent Ana Grey as the central character. She is also an Emmy-nominated television writer and producer. In her research for A Star for Mrs. Blake (2014), she traveled to Maine, New York City, Paris, Verdun, and the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery. Her home base is Santa Monica, California, where she lives with her husband.
A 1967 graduate of The Bronx High School of Science, Smith earned a BS in English from Boston University and a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Stanford University.
Television producer and writer.
Smith worked on several hit television series from the late 1970s through 2000 as producer, writer, and executive story editor, including Lou Grant, Cagney and Lacey, and Chicago Hope. She also adapted stories by Stephen King for the TNT series Nightmares & Dreamscapes.
She wrote teleplays for several made-for-TV movies, including the critically acclaimed 1998 remake of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and the 1999 adaptation of the Anna Quindlen novel Black and Blue. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her screenplay for Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984).
In 2011 Smith penned the adaptation of her own novel Good Morning, Killer, for the TNT Mystery Movie Night series.
Smith's work has been nominated for three Emmys and two Writer's Guild awards.
Smith wrote four novels with FBI Special Agent Ana Grey as the central character: North of Montana (1994), Good Morning, Killer (2003), Judas Horse (2008), and White Shotgun (2011). She also is the author of Be the One (2000), and two novels based on the TV series James at 15. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/20/2014.)
Book Reviews
A first rate novel that is well worth reading.... Smith has the unique ability to take a long forgotten story and craft it into a page turner.... She’s found an important but forgotten postscript in America’s past and has written a compelling historical novel that confronts racism, class and economic differences as well as government bureaucracy. Smith conveys all of these topics through story and characters rather than a soapbox, and her subtle approach has far more impact than the histrionics of any television or radio pundit.
Huffington Post
A moving novel [that] gives readers a detailed and colorful description of life during the interim between the War to End All Wars and the next world war that quickly followed. . . This is not simply a story of grieving mothers but a story of America—rich in the lives of each of the characters who raise small boys to become part of the dream but instead bury them in a faraway land.... The questions are posed: How do we achieve peace? What are the costs of war? Can freedom and patriotism co-exist in America? And, for us in this century, how are our lives richer for the sacrifices of those who served before us?
Lorinda Hayes - Pittsburgh Post
Smith writes with great depth of detail and of emotion, giving voice to these Gold Star Mothers who traveled from America to their sons’ graves in France.
Historical Novel Society
[A] touching story, set in the 1930s, of Gold Star Mothers—the mothers of fallen U.S. service members—visiting their sons’ graves in France.... Smith captures the mothers’ interactions in beautiful detail and delves into the government’s not-entirely-altruistic reasons for sponsoring the trip. Several plot threads, however, are unresolved, leaving the reader wanting more at the end of this captivating read.
Publishers Weekly
What initially feels like a straightforward and heartwarming road trip novel becomes more complicated as the women draw nearer to their destination and squabbles over class and personality differences give way to increasing criticism of the government and military bureaucracy. Though some later plot developments are a bit far-fetched, Smith...artfully maintains a generally warm tone while also allowing her characters to ask hard questions about the war and its consequences.
Library Journal
(Starred review.) [A] heartfelt glimpse into a little-known episode in U.S. history, the journey taken by mothers of U.S. soldiers fallen in WWI to visit their sons’ graves in Europe. Smith focuses on five mothers whose sons were buried at the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. Their unofficial leader is Cora Blake, a single mother from Maine.... Smith’s foray into historical fiction is captivating and enlightening. —Deborah Donovan
Booklist
During the early 1930s, the U.S. government arranged for grieving "Gold Star Mothers" to visit the French burial sites of their sons killed during World War I.... While the line-by-line writing is engaging, this take on historic events is made shallow by broad brush strokes and lots of heartstring pulling.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The Gold Star Mother’s group was founded after World War I. Why was President Herbert Hoover so eager to pass legislation to fund these pilgrimages? Was there more to it than wanting to honor the fallen soldiers and their mothers.
2. Consider the Gold Star Mothers in Party A featured in April Smith’s book. How would you characterize their relationship with one another? How are the women different? How are they similar? What tensions are evident between them and what is at the root of these problems?
3. The parents of each soldier had the choice of whether to inter their son’s remains in America or in France. What was behind Cora Blake’s ultimate decision to have her son interred in France? Do you think she was at peace with that decision?
4. What cultural issues does the mix-up of Wilhelmina Russell and Selma Russell expose? There is documentation that some “Negro mothers” would not go on the trip when they found out they wouldn’t be treated as equals to the “white mothers.” Do you agree with these mothers’ decisions not to go?
5. What does Smith mean when she writes of war and “the democracy of death” (page 22)? What examples are found in the book?
6. How are the mothers treated in America? How are they received in France? What does this seem to indicate about international opinions of America’s role in the war?
7. While much of the focus of the story is on the physical and emotional journey of each of the Gold Star Mothers, what kind of journeys do Lieutenant Thomas Hammond and Nurse Lily undertake? How do they change from the start of the pilgrimage to its conclusion? What causes these changes?
8. The book features several expatriate characters. Does Smith indicate why these Americans are living in France? What kinds of occupations do they have? What do they share in common? What do these characters suggest about postwar living in Europe? Who are some real-life expatriates and how do they compare with Smith’s expatriates?
9. The tension between Clancy Hayes and Griffin Reed helps to illuminate issues of ethics, propaganda, and the role of the press in determining how war is presented. How does each journalist approach the task of writing about war and its effects? Why does Reed have such a problem with Hayes? How is Reed’s version of the story of the Gold Star Mothers different than Hayes’s version? What is the overall effect of the article Reed writes? How is it received? Why is this important?
10. There are different ideas about war expressed by the book’s characters: the mothers, the journalists, Nurse Lily, and Lieutenant Hammond. What are those ideas and how do they compare? How does General Perkins’s point of view affect our understanding of the issues at hand? Who do you sympathize with the most?
11. American expatriate journalist Griffin Reed wears a mask because of his severe disfigurement, but this mask may also be interpreted as a symbol of secrets, the inner self, and the emotional masks we all wear. What secrets do each of the characters keep? Is one more surprising than another? Why is Cora’s telling of her story to Reed so important? Does he keep her secret? How do the characters react to the revelation or discovery of each other’s secrets?
12. What part does legacy play in the book? Cora says that her family’s military involvement dates back to the time of the Revolutionary War. Perkins is from an army family, as is Lieutenant Hammond. How do tradition and the will to break from tradition feature as themes of the book? Consider Minnie Seibert’s reaction to the young woman on the bus. Why is Minnie so disgruntled by the young woman’s initial response to her?
13. Each of the female characters is confronted with her own personal choices. What do their situations tell us collectively about the role of women during this time? Do the women change throughout the story, or do they continue to adhere to societal norms and roles?
14. Evaluate the motif of pilgrimage in the book. How is a pilgrimage different from a trip? How does this categorization tie the book in with a greater thread in American history? What does this tell us about common experience? What common plights and challenges do all pilgrims face and how do they surmount these?
15. Discuss the treatment of faith in the book. What examples of faith are found throughout? Besides religious faith, what other kinds of faith are depicted? Which characters experience a loss of their faith or a conflict of faith? Do they ever regain their faith? If so, how? At the conclusion of the book, what do the characters seem to find faith in?
16. Many of the characters exhibit a strong sense of duty at one time or another. Does this change throughout the story? Is duty to something always external? Or are there any examples in the story of duty to one’s self?
17. Griffin Reed says that Cora worries over “what a war mother is really supposed to do” (274). Is this question answered by the end of the book? How does Smith’s story change or confirm your own ideas about duty and sacrifice?
18. A Star for Mrs. Blake is anchored in a footnote of history. The book is inspired by a diary of a real-life American colonel and Gold Star Mother liaison officer, but the story is from the author’s imagination. Discuss the role of truth and accuracy in historical fiction. What other books can this one be likened to? What do these books indicate about war and its effects and the way that we view them? What can a reader take away from reading about events in a novel rather than in a history book?
19. Nelson DeMille, author of Word of Honor, said, “Everyone who has served or is serving in the military, and also their families and friends, should read this book.” Why do you think he suggests this and do you agree?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)
Somewhere in France: A Novel of the Great War
Jennifer Robson, 2014
HarperCollins
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780062273451
Summary
A daring young woman will risk her life to find her destiny in this atmospheric, beautifully drawn historical debut novel—a tale of love, hope, and danger set during the First World War.
Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford wants to travel the world, pursue a career, and marry for love. But in 1914, the stifling restrictions of aristocratic British society and her mother’s rigid expectations forbid Lilly from following her heart. When war breaks out, the spirited young woman seizes her chance for independence. Defying her parents, she moves to London and eventually becomes an ambulance driver in the newly formed Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps—an exciting and treacherous job that takes her close to the Western Front.
Assigned to a field hospital in France, Lilly is reunited with Robert Fraser, her dear brother Edward’s best friend. The handsome Scottish surgeon has always encouraged Lilly’s dreams. She doesn’t care that Robbie grew up in poverty—she yearns for their friendly affection to become something more. Lily is the most beautiful—and forbidden—woman Robbie has ever known. Fearful for her life, he’s determined to keep her safe, even if it means breaking her heart.
In a world divided by class, filled with uncertainty and death, can their hope for love survive, or will it become another casualty of this tragic war? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—January 5, 1970
• Where—Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
• Education—B.A., University of Western Ontario; Ph.D., Oxford University
• Currently—lives in Toronto, Canada
Jennifer Robson is a Canadian writer and former journalist living in Toronto, Canada. She has written three books—Moonlight Over Paris (2016), After the War is Over (2015), and Somewhere in France (2013)—all novels that use as their starting point, or background setting, Europe's Great War.
Perhaps it was her father, noted historian Stuart Robson, who passed on his love of history to Jennifer, a "lifelong history geek," as she refers to herself. In fact, it was her father from whom she first learned of the Great War, (1914-1918, which Americans refer to as World War I). Later she served as an official guide at the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France, one of the war's major battle sites.
Jennifer studied French literature and modern history as an undergraduate at King’s College at the University of Western Ontario, then attended Saint Antony’s College at the University of Oxford, where she earned her doctorate in British economic and social history. While at Oxford, she was both a Commonwealth Scholar and a Doctoral Fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Before turning to full-time writing, Jennifer spent time as an editor. She and her husband have three children, a sheepdog and cat, and live in Toronto. (Adapted from the author's website.)
Book Reviews
Robson’s first novel examines the dynamic between love and duty in the midst of historical tragedy.... Robson’s skillful ability with detail and setting firmly relates the grotesqueries of war without gratuitous gore. Her deft touch as a storyteller keeps readers engaged in the story of the lovers, as well as illuminating the bigger picture of the war raging around them.
Publishers Weekly
Although Robbie and Lilly's love story dominates the narrative, debut novelist Robson never creates enough tension to leave the reader in any doubt about the romance's probable outcome, and Robbie remains a somewhat bland and underdeveloped figure throughout. Lilly's...unusual perspective as a female ambulance driver puts an interesting spin on the scenes of wartime carnage.
Library Journal
Adding to the growing popularity of WWI-era romances, Robson’s first novel evocatively captures the feeling of the time as it follows the adventures of independent Lady Elizabeth “Lilly” Neville-Ashford, who in 1914 is expected to adhere to the rigid roles for upper-class British ladies.... Robson intermingles the overarching themes of love, war, and societal strictures in this appealing read. —Julie Trevel
Booklist
Discussion Questions
1. If you had the chance to grow up as the daughter of Lord and Lady Cumberland—knowing that you would live in unimaginable luxury but would also be denied an education, the chance to work, and very likely the chance to choose your own spouse—would you do it?
2. Do you feel Lady Cumberland's treatment of Lilly is motivated by sincere concern for her daughter's welfare? Or is it a case of her obsessively adhering to the conventions of aristocratic society, no matter the cost?
3. Do Robbie's motivations in pushing Lilly away after the bombardment of the 51st make sense to you? Do you sympathize with him or do you think he allows tunnel vision to cloud his judgment?
4. What about Lilly's motivations? Is she right to insist on staying at the 51st no matter what? Wouldn't it be reasonable for her to compromise and take up a position elsewhere in France?
5. Before reading Somewhere in France, if someone had mentioned the First World War to you, what would have come to mind? Has your perception of the First World War changed as a result?
6. Somewhere in France is set in the recent past, a century ago. Were there any aspects of life in the novel that surprised you by their modernity? Did its characters feel familiar to you, or more like inhabitants of "a different country," to paraphrase a well-known description of the past?
7. Do you think Robbie and Lilly's relationship would have been possible without the war and the changes it brought to British society?
8. Do you think it really would have been possible for Lilly to become friends with women like Annie and Bridget? Could such a disparity in wealth, privilege, and class truly be bridged in that era?
9. How do you think Lilly and her friends were changed by their experiences in the WAAC? Would it have been easy for them to return to ordinary life and the status quo after the war?
10. Do you think the war still matters? Why? It was fought a century ago, every one of its veterans is now dead, and memories of it are fading from our collective consciousness. Should we just leave it to the professional historians and concentrate on more recent events?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)