Dollface by Renee Rosen

Title: Dollface
Author: Renee Rosen
Genre: Fiction

Other books I've read by this author: White Collar Girl

Synopsis: Vera's main goal in life is to not end up like her mother, a single business owner of a slaughterhouse with no time for fun. Ordinary is the last thing she wants to be. Working and living downtown in 1920s Chicago is expensive but Vera and her friend and roommate, Evelyn, are determined to live a glamorous life. When their hunt for glamour introduces Vera to Shep and Tony it might lead to more excitement than she and Evelyn could ever imagine.

My Thoughts

When I saw this book on the shelf and read the back cover I just wasn't excited enough by what it described to buy it. Then recently it was lent to me by a colleague who has similar taste in books and I figured it was worth a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find a story with much more depth and complexity than is portrayed by the back cover. (Insert book judging cliche here.)
Dollface is more than just a 1920 speakeasy and gangster story, it's about a woman coming of age in a time where women weren't supposed to make it on their own and those who had to were looked down upon. This book examines the different versions of oneself and what it means to choose one over the other. Don't worry, it has all that depth and also the speakeasies and gangsters you hope for in a roaring twenties novel.

The last few novels I was reading were set in Europe and this was a great book to bring me back state-side. 



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To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

Title: The Gown
Author: Jennifer Robson
Genre: Fiction

Other books I have read by this author: Moonlight Over Paris

Synopsis: After WWII the British people look forward to celebrating the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Phillip Mountbatten. Working at Hartnell's embroidering the extravagant wedding gown for the princess changes both Ann and Miriam's lives. In 2016 after the death of her grandmother, Heather finds there was more to her nan's life in London in the 1940s than she knew. 

My Thoughts

My love for the British royal family drew me to this book, but it is really more the story of the common people following WWII and finding hope in the celebration of a royal wedding. I always love a story told from multiple perspectives and this has Ann, a London native, and Miriam, a French transplant, working together to create the princess's gown and trying to survive as single women after the war. 
There is a bit of mystery in this novel as well when the story is seen through the eyes of Heather in 2016 who is trying to find out why her grandmother had left her an old box of embroidery upon her death with no explanation. You can always tell I am intrigued by a story when the time between my reviews is so short. I looked forward every day to finding out what was going to happen for Ann and Miriam as the story progressed.
Beyond the delightful storyline, the author includes portions of her interview with an actual Hartnell's employee who worked in the shop at the time the gown was being made. I love seeing how actual historical references fit into the fiction. It was also fun to find the recipe for a dish much discussed in the story at the end of the novel as well. I plan to make it for dinner this week. I look forward to reading other novels by this author! 


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To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above.

Golden Hill: The Sensational Novel of Old New York by Francis Spufford

Title: Golden Hill: The Sensational Novel of Old New York
Author: Francis Spufford
Genre: Fiction


Synopsis: Richard Smith arrives in the colony of New York in 1746 with a bill for quite a sum of money and an air of mystery. He will only say that he has come from London but gives no hints into his past. News of this mysterious man spreads through the small town of Manhattan raising all kinds of questions? Who is this man? How did he come into so much money? What is his purpose in New York? Love, friendship, and mistakes only a young man in a new place can make reveals more about Mr. Smith than he realizes.

My Thoughts

Beyond children's books and The Scarlett Letter, there is very little fiction set in Colonial America pre-Revolutionary War. I was looking for something out of the ordinary to read and I was excited when I found this novel at Barnes and Nobel.
I really like the style in which it is written, the language feels authentic to the time period. The fact that the reader is kept in the dark about Mr. Smith's purpose in New York, as well as his past, keeps an air of suspense throughout the novel. The author paints a clear picture of Colonial Manhattan, a strikingly different place than what the modern reader knows of Manhattan today. 
There was only one portion of the story where the scene felt too long. Mr. Smith's letter to his father from prison was seemingly neverending. I admit to skimming through it because it was repetitive and uninteresting. I'm sure the intention was to give the reader a sense of the monotony of days spent in a prison cell, but for me, it was too much.  
The story also has some unexpected elements and as more is revealed about Mr. Smith the more surprising it becomes. I especially loved when the narrator of the story is revealed, providing so much context for the entire story. It may be worth reading it again knowing who is telling to see if there were clues early on that I missed.

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above