“I need someone who wants to live. The good, the bad, and the really really horrible days. The ones so trying they feel like an ocean we can never cross. And in the midst of it all, she smiles because she believes I’m worth it.”

He raised his gaze back to hers. “You were worth it to me.”

~ From Across Oceans (Hope or High Water Book 1)

Welcome readers! I’m thrilled to introduce you to the first issue of my new monthly newsletter. This is where I’ll provide updates related to all things in my world from progress on my latest novel to my recommended reads and upcoming events. I want you to be as excited to receive this newsletter as I am to send it, so feel free to send your comments and suggestions my way!

Latest News

The past few months have been busy, busy, busy, and the next several are proving to keep me equally engaged. Summer in St. Louis is always a hot, humid, allergy filled place, but it also means family fun, camp for the kids, and vacation. Two weeks ago, we took a road trip down to Gulf Shores with my husband’s family for some time on Alabama’s beautiful beaches. We also saw history happen when the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time ever and watched the Blue Angels perform at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. If you’ve never had a chance to see these amazing pilots fly, you should make time to do so. It’s absolutely incredible.

I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to complete some in-person book research as the Naval Aviation museum contained an entire section dedicated to World War I. Ah the joy and curse of a writer—we’re always writing even when we’re not.

While I did take a break from actually putting pen to paper during vacation, I worked tirelessly during the months prior to get as much completed on Broken Lines as I could. I’m about halfway through the first draft of the third novel in my Hope or High Water series and determined to finish before the summer is through. Broken Lines gives two side characters from Across Oceans and Twisted River their own story set amidst the months of fear and indecision leading up to America’s entrance into World War I. It has certainly required a different mindset to bring life to this novel, but I’m enjoying every minute of the creativity and especially the research.

So without further ado, here is the back cover blurb for Broken Lines:

With the threat of the Great War looming at America’s doorstep, fear of immigrant disloyalty has become enough to divide the nation. So when German-born Amara Müller’s brother decides to join the fight, he leaves her behind in St. Louis with one final directive: Stay safe. There’s only one certain way to keep herself out of suspicion’s spotlight, but will she have the courage to see it through?

Accustomed to a strict diet of cigars and spirits, Emil Kisch has become the master of a worry-free good time. And as one of St. Louis’s best morality squad detectives, he’s able to skirt the drinking laws as easily as he arrests others for breaking them. To him, war is a problem for other men. Until one night he makes a mistake that even a glass of whiskey can’t wash away. Is it too late to reverse the course set in motion?

As their lives are intertwined with the fate of the war, Emil and Amara must fight to save what they both hold most dear. But which side of the line do you stand on when your allegiance belongs to both?

So, what do you think? Love the synopsis? Think it could be better? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Recommended Reads

While in Gulf Shores this month, I read Kate Breslin’s most recent novel, Far Side of the Sea, the third in her series of WW1 spy novels. I read the first two earlier this year (Not by Sight and High as the Heavens), but was waiting for the third to be released so I could review them all together.

First of all, the covers are simply lovely and give a good idea of what to expect from these novels. All three stories keep fairly light as they have a strong romantic lean (but are non-explicit), making them good summer reads, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have plenty of moments of intrigue. Kate does a great job with her research, providing so many little details as to make us feel like we’re really part of the war scene. She also includes many lesser known elements of The Great War such as the Women’s Forage Corps in Not by Sight, German-occupied Brussels in High as the Heavens, and the French/English government’s use of carrier pigeons in Far Side of the Sea.

High as the Heavens was probably my favorite of these three as I love seeing a story about a troubled/estranged marriage finding redemption. There are so many novels about how to fall in love, but so very few about how to stay that way, so I really enjoy it when I come across one done well. Not by Sight also had a unique viewpoint in that the main hero, Jack, is struck blind during a mission and as such, it results in a growing romance based entirely on personality rather than physical attraction.

These three novels do not need to be read in any particular order; however, characters from Not By Sight are mentioned in Far Side of the Sea, which leads to some spoilers if you haven’t read the first book.

For more information on Kate Breslin’s novels, visit: https://katebreslin.com/

Recent Events

In April, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Junior League of St. Louis. It was a chilly rainy day, but I still had a fantastic time discussing my books with such a fun group of women. Another huge thank you to them for inviting me!

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Read it? Loved it? Tell others by writing a review!

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Text and Photographs Copyright © Kelsey Gietl 2019

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Historical Fiction – 1917 (World War I) and 1947 (Post-World War II) England and France

From the Author: In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.

My Take: The Alice Network is in one word, phenomenal. At times it is also dark and gritty and emotionally draining. That is the nature of war. But above all it is about conquering the darkness both outside and inside of ourselves, about friendship and family, love and life—about what is worth fighting for. From the minute I picked this book up until the last of its nearly 500 pages, I was blown away.

Charlie and Eve are two quite different women; however, their differences become two sides of the same coin. Both are on similar quests to find answers to the lives they left behind. Except Charlie still believes that there is hope for the future while Eve does not. These two women’s stories flow in and out of one another, switching between 1917 and 1947 until they finally merge and continue to the story’s final climactic moment. Often in dual-timeline novels, one time period is more captivating than the other, but I didn’t feel that with The Alice Network. Both stories held my attention equally. Even the secondary characters drew me in.

As discussed in the author’s note, the amount of research put into accurate depiction of these women’s lives is astounding. I especially enjoyed how Kate Quinn brought together experiences from both world wars. Most novels that I have read fail to mention that WWI ended only twenty years before WWII began, which isn’t much time for personal or economic recovery. Kate Quinn does not shy away from this aspect, acknowledging in detail the ramifications of WWI on her characters’ decisions within and after WWII. She brings forth raw emotions and lays them bare for us to see, creating characters that are both strong and vulnerable and very much humans we can relate to. Simply put, this novel is a beautiful example of what all historical fiction should be. Kate Quinn’s writing is completely spectacular.

Kate Quinn also recently released The Huntress, about WWII Nazi Hunters. More information on her novels can be found here: http://www.katequinnauthor.com/

Content Advisory: Due to the thematic nature of this novel, the story did contain a higher level of mature content than I typically include in books reviewed on this site. Please be advised that there are scenes containing graphic elements related to war, scenes of sexuality (although not explicit enough for me to consider erotica) and some instances of strong profanity. That being said, I found these elements to be, for the most part, used appropriately within the context of the story, and often I felt the gritty nature actually added to its authenticity.

REVIEW TEXT COPYRIGHT 2019 KELSEY GIETL

Welcome to a special new year’s edition of Friday Fic Picks! It seems like everyone is posting their favorites lists: favorite movies, music, television shows, celebrities,  hairstyles … you name it, there’s probably a list for it. Books are no exception. My writing communities have been posting their top ten, so I figured I should probably jump on the bandwagon before it drove off and left me.

So, here are my top 10 historical fiction reads from 2018, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name because I used to be a librarian, and I also don’t want to pick favorites out of my favorites. They’re all worth reading! Click on each title for my full review and please note that not all of these were published this past year.

After you’ve looked over my Top 10, let me know yours. Maybe I’ll add them to my reading challenge for this coming year.

Keturah by Lisa T. Bergren

Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

The Love Letter by Rachel Hauck

The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck

The Daughters of Boston and Winds of Change series by Julie Lessman

Technically this is 7 books and 2 novellas (with a third recently released), but I read them all at once so they’re being counted as one.

Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The Glass Ocean by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White

Stealing Mr. Smith by Tanya E. Williams

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

 

 

 

 

 

Last week in my review of The Glass Ocean, I mentioned also reading Dead Wake, but then realized that I never shared a review outside the world of Goodreads. So without further ado, here is this Friday’s recommended non-fiction read.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Historical Non-Fiction (World War I)

From the Author: On May 1, 1915, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were anxious. Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone, and for months, its U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic. But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds” and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. He knew, moreover, that his ship – the fastest then in service – could outrun any threat. 

Germany, however, was determined to change the rules of the game, and Walther Schwieger, the captain of Unterseeboot-20, was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, an ultra-secret British intelligence unit tracked Schwieger’s U-boat, but told no one. As U-20 and the Lusitania made their way toward Liverpool, an array of forces both grand and achingly small – hubris, a chance fog, a closely guarded secret, and more–all converged to produce one of the great disasters of history. 

It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Full of glamour, mystery, and real-life suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope Riddle to President Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Gripping and important, Dead Wake captures the sheer drama and emotional power of a disaster that helped place America on the road to war.

My Take: It is my opinion that few authors are able to write truly spectacular nonfiction. It is a challenging goal to lay down a set of (mostly) unbiased facts within an intriguing story. Harder still is the ability to form those facts as a fictional writer would in order to leave the reader feeling a personal attachment with the characters. It is difficult, but Erik Larson has accomplished it.

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania is much more than an account of one ship’s sinking in May of 1915. It encompasses the world before, during, and after the ship, creating an intricate tale of political plots, military tactics, and ordinary lives come to life on paper. A multitude of subplots are represented from every viewpoint including: Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger of Unterseeboot (U-boat) 20, Britain’s top secret Room 40, officials of the Cunard Line, American President Woodrow Wilson, and multitudes of the Lusitania’s passengers. The detail is absolutely astounding. Drawing from a number of sources including letters, diaries, news articles, transcripts, and autopsy reports, the author immerses the reader in an incredible retelling of the World War I era. Descriptions of nautical engineering, intimate romances and family relationships, political subplots and outrageous warfare. What they ate, what they wore, who was doing what when – who lived, who died, and how – it’s all included. This was, far and away, one of the best non-fiction books I’ve ever read. Recommendations of the highest regard!

For more information visit: http://eriklarsonbooks.com/

Review text copyright 2017 Kelsey Gietl