Monday Book Review: THE BOSTON GIRL, by Anita Diamant

The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant
Published December 2014 by Scribner


About the book (from Amazon):

New York Times bestseller!
An unforgettable novel about a young Jewish woman growing up in Boston in the early twentieth century, told “with humor and optimism…through the eyes of an irresistible heroine” (People)—from the acclaimed author of The Red Tent.

Anita Diamant’s “vivid, affectionate portrait of American womanhood” (Los Angeles Times), follows the life of one woman, Addie Baum, through a period of dramatic change. Addie is The Boston Girl, the spirited daughter of an immigrant Jewish family, born in 1900 to parents who were unprepared for America and its effect on their three daughters. Growing up in the North End of Boston, then a teeming multicultural neighborhood, Addie’s intelligence and curiosity take her to a world her parents can’t imagine—a world of short skirts, movies, celebrity culture, and new opportunities for women. Addie wants to finish high school and dreams of going to college. She wants a career and to find true love. From the one-room tenement apartment she shared with her parents and two sisters, to the library group for girls she joins at a neighborhood settlement house, to her first, disastrous love affair, to finding the love of her life, eighty-five-year-old Addie recounts her adventures with humor and compassion for the naïve girl she once was.

Written with the same attention to historical detail and emotional resonance that made Diamant’s previous novels bestsellers, The Boston Girl is a moving portrait of one woman’s complicated life in twentieth century America, and a fascinating look at a generation of women finding their places in a changing world. “Diamant brings to life a piece of feminism’s forgotten history” (Good Housekeeping) in this “inspirational…page-turning portrait of immigrant life in the early twentieth century” (Booklist).

My Take
This slim book surprised me in so many ways, not the least of which was how much I enjoyed it! Not my usual choice for beach reading, it was gifted to me as "literature" and the only way it ended up in my beachbag was it didn't weigh very much.  No romance, no sex, no suspense, no paranormal elements. Just a girl coming of age in 1915 Boston. But wow.

Engaging, emotional, enlightening, and totally absorbing, part of me wished it was longer and went into more detail, but another part of me loved it for its sparse brevity in describing heart wrenching scenes from Boston's complicated past history of immigration and women's rights.

The story is told in first person by an 85-year-old grandmother, answering her granddaughter's question about what life was like when she was Young. Born to recently immigrated Hungarian Jewish parents in 1900, the narrator pulls no punches about the life of the poor in turn of the century Boston. No sugar coating or rose-colored glasses, but neither does she whine or bemoan her plight. The author herself is a journalist by profession, and the narrator's story comes across as both a factual and poignant telling of how girls grew up and survived through the century, with most of the focus from 1915 through the depression.

I can't recommend this as a beach book because I kept getting tears in my eyes and steaming up my sunglasses. And worst of all, I was unable to order fresh drinks when the waiter came around with his tray. Yeah, it's an Emotional book.

Then again, I can't say enough good things about the writing and the character development and the thoroughly engrossing story that kept me turning pages for several straight hours ... Thank goodness for beach umbrellas and sunscreen or I would've been burned to a crispy critter!

If you're a fan of historical fiction, interested in the plight of women at the turn of the last century, or want to read about early Boston, grab this book now. 

If you like engaging first person coming of age tales, grab this book now.

If you're looking for a good book and have a few hours to spare, grab this book now.

If you have a book club and it's your turn to suggest something, grab this book now.

Basically, I can't say enough good things and loved every minute of it. If there were more than 5 stars, I'd click on them all.

Grab a copy on AMAZON ~ or visit your local library!

Friday Feature: Favorite Beach Excerpt from CRAZY ABOUT YOU, by Katie O'Sullivan, #TWRP

Last week's excerpt got me to thinking about how I love to write romantic moonlit strolls on Cape Cod beaches. Sure enough, there's one in CRAZY ABOUT YOU... without the furry four-legged friend. Granted, this book has a dog in it as well, but Lucky doesn't play as huge a role in the story as Midget did in my first Wild Rose Press romance.

Where last Friday's moonlit scene ended up tangled in the sand, this one ends with the characters tangled in a murder... I felt I had to edit it a bit to keep it PG, but really it's not more than PG-13 in the actual book. Not this scene, at least...

EXCERPT:

After dinner, they descended the stairs next to the wharf and walked along the sandy stretch of low-tide beach running parallel to the commercial strip. The full moon reflected off the Atlantic, sending rhythmic ripples of silver and gold washing onto the shore. The dark pilings of the wharf loomed behind them, the low sounds of laughter and voices drifting from the shadows.

“I hope you don’t mind if we skip going to the club to meet your assistant. So many people crammed into too small a space. This is nicer.” She smiled up at him and his heart skipped a beat.

“Totally fine with me.” He managed to control his voice, sounding normal even if his erratic heartbeat wouldn’t listen to him. “I’m not much for the club scene anyway. Makes me feel old.”

She snorted. “You’re not old, Dr. Anderson. Merely intense.” Emma reached for his hand, twining her fingers through his, giving them a squeeze. “I love to walk on the beach after dinner, don’t you? Especially at low tide, like this, when the beach stretches on and on and the sky is filled with a multitude of stars shining down, little pinpricks in the blackness where the gods and angels can watch over us. Or spy on us. Whichever. The possibilities seem endless on nights like tonight.”

Several of those possibilities raced through his mind, each scenario steamier than the last. He clamped his mouth shut, stifling a groan. This wasn’t like him. He was usually calm, cool, and collected. Since when did his daydreams all turn pornographic?

Since you met Emma, the voice in his head reminded him.

He ran his thumb across her knuckles, feeling the tremor run through her arm. “Tell me something about you. Something no one else knows.”

She stared up at the night sky long enough to count each and every star. “When I was born, my dad was out at sea, fishing. He promised he’d be home to take Mom to the hospital in Hyannis, but couldn’t make it back to shore because of a storm.”

“So what did she do?” Chase snaked his hand under the arm of her sweater, her skin like silk sliding under his fingertips as he drew nonsensical lines along her forearm.

“You need to realize, the nearest hospital is an hour and a half from Provincetown. It was fall, but still the end of tourist season, so things were busy. My mom had to make promises to the woman who drove her there.”

“Promises? Like pledging your firstborn?”

She shook her head. “Almost worse. She let her choose my middle name.”

He chuckled and slid his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “What did she choose?” Despite the darkness, he saw her roll her eyes. “Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“My mom was at her shop when her water broke. It was the tarot card reader next door who drove her to Hyannis.”

“And your middle name is…”

“Andromeda.” She said it so softly he barely heard.

“Like the constellation? Or the daughter of Cassiopeia?”

Emma blew out a long breath. “I guess she meant the constellation, because she told my mom the stars would bring Dad home. Sure enough, he showed up at the hospital the very next morning. But I was already saddled with one heck of a middle name.”

“I like it.”

Her voice came out as a whisper. “You do?”

He nodded slowly. “I like you, too.” He bent his head to capture her mouth. She leaned into him slightly, brushing his lips with her tongue, inviting him to explore further. The kiss quickly deepened, her body pressed tight, urging him to take more. Primal need seared through his body. He found the bottom edge of her tank top and slipped underneath to caress the silky heat of the bare skin at her waist. She shuddered and pulled away from the kiss, nipping his bottom lip.

“Wow,” she whispered, catching her breath. “Is this still part of that science experiment of yours?” Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, filled with wanting but also uncertainty.

He touched his forehead to hers and waited for his breathing to even out. “I think we’ve officially ruled out any scientific anomaly. But there’s still plenty of room for exploration.” He kissed her again, tasting the salt of the night air on her lips, satisfying his hunger better than any seafood. She opened to him, leaning into his kiss. 

His world spun out of control as she clutched his shoulders and held on until he needed to come up for air to stop the world from reeling. He tucked her head under his chin and held her body against his, breathing in her honey lemon scent with each panting breath, trying to steady himself. Hot breath puffed against his chest, another small tremor running through her. “I never planned for this,” he said.

“Do you always have a plan?”

“Usually.”

“Kiss me again.”

He cradled her face with his hands and kissed her softly, running his tongue over her lips, down her neck, kissing the soft spot at the base of her throat. She trembled at his touch, moving her hands over the muscles in his back.

“You’re driving me crazy,” she said in a breathless voice that sent even more blood pounding to his groin. “But we should probably stop. I mean, we’re, um, still kind of in public.”

His lips brushed over her ear. “There’s no one near,” he whispered, unable to think clearly.

“Chase, please.” Her breathy whisper sent another jolt to his groin. “Let’s leave the beach. Now.” He nodded, his logical brain kicking into gear to estimate the quickest route back to his motel room. He captured her mouth for one more kiss, tamping down on his haze of need while he wondered whether to flag a taxi or one of those pedicabs.

A scream from somewhere nearby pierced the night air. He tore his mouth from hers, looking toward the source of the noise. Shouts followed, along with the sounds of feet pounding on the wooden staircase and along the boardwalk. Streams of shadows swirled above and below the pier, bodies scurrying through the darkness while the screams went on and on.

“What’s happening?” Emma pulled away, shoving her shirt down, moving toward the sound.

Chase tried to hold her back. “Where are you going?”

“Didn’t you hear that? A woman’s screaming!”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to run toward danger?”

She cocked her head. “Someone needs help. Either come with me, or let me go.” 

Reluctantly he followed her lead, unwilling to release his grasp on her hand. The evening’s “endless possibilities” quickly dissolved from fantasy into nightmare. Drawing closer to the shadowy pillars of the wharf, Chase saw the dark shape sprawled on the sand before Emma did. The screams subsided, but a handful of people remained near the body, phones snapping away at the scene, flashes of light punctuating the grim darkness. At his side, Emma gasped. “Oh. My. God. Is that…?”

Police sirens blared from street level, cutting off her words. Red and white lights flashed, uniformed officers swarmed onto the beach, illuminating the shadows with searchlights and stopping anyone from leaving the scene. One of the beacons caught Emma and Chase in its glare along with several other onlookers.

“All of you over there,” shouted a gruff voice over a bullhorn. “Stay where you are.”

****

Find out what happens next (and what I deleted...) by grabbing a copy on AMAZON.

Writing Wednesday: Vacation Time!

I'm in Mexico all this week, recharging my battery or "filling the creative well," as Julia Cameron would say. It's kind of a work thing for my day job, but with plenty of free time added into the mix of meetings and mandatory events.

Plenty of time to go Mermaid hunting in the shops around Puerto Vallarta!

What even better for me is that I've been so busy with "work" lately that I ((gasp)) haven't felt like writing. I've been reading (of course) but writing? Not so much. I feel creatively drained, so even more important than ever to get refreshed and inspired.

What do you do to fill your creative well?

Monday Book Review: City of Thieves, by David Benioff

City of Thieves, by David Benioff
Published May 2008 by Viking Adult

About the Book:

During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown into the same cell as a handsome deserter named Kolya. Instead of being executed, Lev and Kolya are given a shot at saving their own lives by complying with an outrageous directive: secure a dozen eggs for a powerful Soviet colonel to use in his daughter’s wedding cake. In a city cut off from all supplies and suffering unbelievable deprivation, Lev and Kolya embark on a hunt through the dire lawlessness of Leningrad and behind enemy lines to find the impossible.

By turns insightful and funny, thrilling and terrifying, City of Thieves is a gripping, cinematic World War II adventure and an intimate coming-of-age story with an utterly contemporary feel for how boys become men.

My Take:

Wow. One of my teens heard about this book from a friend, purchased and read it on his own, and then bugged and badgered and pleaded with me to read it next so we could talk about it and so we could share the experience. Like when one of my other sons came to me with tears in his eyes after finishing the Book Thief, begging me to read it right away.

I love when a book has such a profound affect on a person that they CAN'T WAIT to share it!

This is a book like that. In the beginning I assumed it was a YA book because of the age of the characters and the thinness of the paperback, but it really isn't. The author includes murder, death, starvation, violence, sex, cannibalism, torture, and dirty jokes, as well as other brutal realities of war.

It's a coming-of-age historical fiction set during World War II during the siege of Leningrad. But you could read all that in the blurb. What the blurb doesn't convey is the dirt and grit and brutality of daily life, nor does it fully describe the impossible quest the two main characters embark upon, or the close relationship that develops between the characters.

This is another in the vein of realistic portrayals of the horrible realities of war, and the glimpses of humanity, love and absurdity that peak through the darkness. I loved this book in the way I loved Skeletons at the Feast (1945 Poland) and Sandcastle Girls (World War I Turkey), both by Chris Bohjalian, though this was less lyrical and a lot more raw, but completely engaging nonetheless.

There is nothing sugar coated about this book, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Definitely a 5-star recommended read.

You can grab a copy on AMAZON, but for some reason the Kindle version is more expensive than the paperback, so you'd be better off finding it at your local bookstore. It's not a new release so plan to call ahead.