If you know me, you know that when a YA compilation post has
been recently published to my blog, there will be an inspirational (a.k.a.
Christian) fiction post not too far behind. Here is the first post for 2022,
even though I read these three books in early 2021 (and therefore should’ve
posted this well before now).
*From the author:
This closes out the Red River of the North series*
Family, faith and hard work have been the cornerstones of
Ingeborg Bjorklund’s life in Blessing, North Dakota. She is decades removed
from the 20-year-old she was in Norway in 1878. It is now 1913. She’s had many
years of widowhood, but contentment and fulfillment fills her life. Blessing
continues to grow and thrive, expanded upon the foundation that Ingeborg and
her family helped start. She has found a dear friend in David Gould, a wealthy,
high-society businessman from New York City who seems to flourish in Blessing’s
agrarian culture despite his big-city upbringing. David is also interested in
Ingeborg as more than a friend. She cares for him dearly, but she worries that
marrying him will deny her own children any of her inheritance (she has her own
humble wealth, too). As for David’s children, “They had so much affluence and
so little sense. They were useful for nothing; they could not put food on the
table or love in the heart.”
Ingeborg’s
son, Thorliff, has been a widower and single father of two since his beloved
Elizabeth passed away. Love for another hasn’t stirred in his heart until the
arrival of the new schoolteacher, Louisa Gutenberg. But Louisa has a deep
secret, and to share it would cost her the very job she loves. No matter that
she’s charmed by the entire Bjorklund family and their extended relatives in
the area, she doesn’t feel worthy of their love and support.
As with the
other stories I’ve read from Snelling, she writes charming, inspirational,
historical fiction novels. The charlatan she throws in adds some spice to an
otherwise gentle-flowing story. She also writes so realistically that a reader
like me could easily think she needs to add more wood to the cook stove …
except I don’t, because I have electricity. What I didn’t realize going into
this story is that, while not marketed as such, this novel rounds out the Red River of the North series. It is
extensive, because there are many Blessing books. The only series I’d read of
Snelling’s prior to this single book was the Under Northern Skies series, and they take place in Minnesota
(which is why I initially chose the first book). So, I did feel like I was
missing a lot of backstories. A very likable novel, even if I did sometimes
think David’s love for Ingeborg got a little pushy, but I wouldn’t tackle the
Blessing books unless you’re ready to start at the very beginning.
A Portrait of Loyalty
(Sept. 8, 2020) by Roseanna M. White.
*This is the final novel in a trilogy.*
One makes sense of what others may see as hodgepodge, the
other can find simple beauty through the lens of a camera. 30-year-old Zivon
Marin was one of Russia’s top cryptographers (and not a linguist, though he is
that, too), but was forced to flee to save the life of him and his brother,
Evgeni. They were separated after their train derailed. With no word at their
decided-upon safe spot in Paris, Zivon concludes that Evgeni is dead. Zivon
takes a job in Room 40 with the British Admiralty under Admiral Reginald (Blinker)
Hall (the DID or Director of the
Intelligence Division). He hesitates to seek any friendships, but finds allies
with his Room 40 team (Margot de Wilde and Phillip Camden, for example),
Lieutenant Theo Clarke and Captain Blackwell. Captain Blackwell’s family,
especially 23-year-old daughter Lilian (Lily), take to Zivon. Lily works with
the intelligence division without her mother’s knowledge of it. As far as Mrs.
Blackwell is aware, Lily only works in the VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment), but
Lily’s real knack is in retouching and re-creating seamless photographs. Her
mother would disapprove, seeing it as propaganda and an unseemly way to
distribute art. When photographs are sent to the Admiralty that call into
question Zivon’s loyalties, Lily is determined to help clear his name. Will a
devastating loss stop Lily in her tracks and thus prevent her from being a
portrait of loyalty?
While all
of the stories in The Codebreakers
trilogy are historical fiction, they make fiction come alive and encourage
interest in history. There’s so much going on in this tale alone: World War I
is in its final year, the Russian Revolution is in its earlier stages, and the
Spanish flu pandemic has begun. History was never my best subject, and
honestly, it’s mostly because the teachers didn’t make it interesting, but
White’s fictional account prompts me to want to know more. I am always
impressed with her writing; her narratives are as seamless as Lily’s doctored
photographs with themes that resonate with her readers. Her female characters
are strong and independent, even when they appear to perpetuate societal norms
of the time. There is a lot of upheaval in this story (rather like there is in
our country today), but White’s writing is so deft that the plot never feels
choppy and the outpouring of faith is steadfast but not overpowering like too
much perfume. What a wonderful conclusion to another winning trilogy!
Book One:
The Number of Love
Book Two:
On Wings of Devotion
Storing Up Trouble
(May 5, 2020) by Jen Turano.
*This is the final novel in a trilogy.*
It is September 1886 and progressive thinking is on the
rise. The suffrage movement has been ongoing, and due to a couple incidents, Miss Beatrix Waterbury has
been packed off for a stay with her Chicago aunt (Beatrix’s mother’s older
sister), Miss Gladys Huttleston, who’s known about the city to be eccentric,
though exceedingly wealthy. Although Beatrix is a member of the New York Four
Hundred, her father of the Knickerbocker set, she hasn’t shared this with
Chicago society, especially after Aunt Gladys tells her she’ll be working as a
salesgirl at Marshall Field & Company. (Gladys believes it will bring more
meaning to Beatrix’s involvement in the suffrage movement and that she’ll
better understand the importance of the movement and not joining a cause for
the sake of joining a cause.) Beatrix means to tell Mr. Norman Nesbit, a
brilliant and unique gentleman devoted to his work in science, but then never
does. And as for Norman, not only does he not have time for the feminine set,
he also doesn’t seem to have time for his own relatives. Beatrix and Norman
meet when a robber is trying to divest her of her belongings. The real target
is Norman and his breakthrough research on electrical currents (which he will
pontificate on, if given the chance, and not even realize it until Beatrix
points it out). Unsurprisingly, Beatrix finds that her heart beats faster when
Norman’s around, and Norman is surprised by how often Beatrix is on his mind.
How will they form a romantic attachment with people of the criminal set
disrupting their lives? And what will happen when Beatrix’s true financial
status becomes known?
The final
in the American Heiresses trilogy is
a delight. I am consistently charmed by Turano’s stories with her witty,
oftentimes outspoken, females and the protagonist gentlemen that mean well and
turn out to have very good hearts, even if they bumble around a bit. Reading
all of Turano’s stories makes me happy with the occasional bursts of disdain
for the criminals and the intermittent exasperations when the lead male says or
does the wrong thing. This story also makes me laugh out loud. “Storing Up
Trouble” is so utterly charming that I feel as though I should’ve read it on a
sunny lawn under a large umbrella with an impressive mansion in the background,
sipping daintily my drink while eating miniature sandwiches and petit fours.
Delightful!
Here’s what
I find hard to believe, though … Beatrix and Norman meet for the first time, manage
to fall in love and get married all in less than three months. Was this a thing
back then? Because I find that hard to believe!
Book One: Flights of Fancy
Book Two: Diamond in the Rough
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