Book Review: The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

ABOUT THE BOOK 

Title: The Woman They Could Not Silence

Author: Kate Moore

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Release Date: June 22, 2021

Genre: Historical Biographies

The tale of a forgotten woman whose journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today.

Elizabeth Packard was an ordinary Victorian housewife and mother of six. That was, until the first Woman’s Rights Convention was held in 1848, inspiring Elizabeth and many other women to dream of greater freedoms. She began voicing her opinions on politics and religion — opinions that her husband did not share. Incensed and deeply threatened by her growing independence, he had her declared 'slightly insane' and committed to an asylum.

Inside the Illinois State Hospital, Elizabeth found many other perfectly lucid women who, like her, had been betrayed by their husbands and incarcerated for daring to have a voice. But just because you are sane, doesn’t mean that you can escape a madhouse …

Fighting the stigma of her gender and her supposed madness, Elizabeth embarked on a ceaseless quest for justice. It not only challenged the medical science of the day and saved untold others from suffering her fate, it ultimately led to a giant leap forward in human rights the world over.

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Book Review: Dear Bette: Advice from the Screen Queen by Patrice Williams Marks

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Dear Bette: Advice from the Screen Queen

Author: Patrice Williams Marks

Publisher: Circa Publishing

Release Date: April 7, 2022

Genre: Rich & Famous Biographies

From, Bette: The Life of Bette Davis. “Her father rejected her. Her first husband involved her in a blackmail scheme. Her second died tragically. Her fourth faught her in a bitter custody battle. Her love affairs with Howard Hughes, William Wyler, threatened her reputation. Her mother, sister, and children made demands that threatened her health, her finances and her sanity. Yet, through it all… Bette Davis endured.”

Bette Davis, the outspoken silver screen queen, was known for her unconventional style, her braisenness, and feminist views before there was even a name for it. After receiving thousands of fan letters monthly asking for her advice on personal matters, Bette decided to respond.

This book is a compilation and reprint of answers to such delicate questions from fans such as, “What should I do? I’m in love with two brothers,” or, “I met a man who says he is a talent scout and wants me to come to Hollywood with him. Should I go?,” or, “Is it wrong to be in love with a married man?”

These intimate letters seek advice on child abuse, interracial dating and marriage, body image, entertainment goals, loss of a loved one, wartime woes, and the reporting of a murder.

Shocking, poignant and straight-forward, Bette Davis hands out advice that may surprise you. A “must” for old-Hollywood fans and Turner Classic Movie fans.

(Questions/Responses from letters received, circa 1938-1949)

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Book Review: The Churchill Sisters by Rachel Trethewey

Title: The Churchill Sisters

Author: Rachel Trethewey

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: November 23, 2021

Genre: Great Britain Biography

As complex in their own was as their Mitford cousins, Winston and Clementine Churchill's daughters each had a unique relationship with their famous father.  Rachel Trethewey's biography, The Churchill Sisters, tells their story.

Bright, attractive and well-connected, in any other family the Churchill girls – Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary – would have shone. But they were not in another family, they were Churchills, and neither they nor anyone else could ever forget it. From their father – ‘the greatest Englishman’ – to their brother, golden boy Randolph, to their eccentric and exciting cousins, the Mitford Girls, they were surrounded by a clan of larger-than-life characters which often saw them overlooked. While Marigold died too young to achieve her potential, the other daughters lived lives full of passion, drama and tragedy.

Diana, intense and diffident; Sarah, glamorous and stubborn; Mary, dependable yet determined – each so different but each imbued with a sense of responsibility toward each other and their country. Far from being cosseted debutantes, these women were eyewitnesses at some of the most important events in world history, at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam. Yet this is not a story set on the battlefields or in Parliament; it is an intimate saga that sheds light on the complex dynamics of family set against the backdrop of a tumultuous century.

Drawing on previously unpublished family letters from the Churchill archives, The Churchill Sisters brings Winston’s daughters out of the shadows and tells their remarkable stories for the first time. 

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Blog Blitz: Carved in Ebony by Jasmine L. Holmes

 

Welcome to the Blog Blitz for Carved in Ebony by Jasmine L. Holmes, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Carved in Ebony
Author: Jasmine L. Holmes
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Release Date: November 2, 2021
Genre: Christian History / Biography

Through the lives of Elizabeth Freeman, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Amanda Berry Smith, Mamie Till, and others, author and speaker Jasmine Holmes shares the significant role that Black women have played in the formation of our faith--and are playing in our formation as modern-day women of faith. 

As these historical figures take the stage with Holmes, you will be inspired by what the stories of these women can teach us about education, birth, privilege, and so much more. Carved in Ebony will take you past the predominately white, male contributions that seemingly dominate history books to discover how Black women have been some of the main figures in defining the landscape of American history and faith. 

Come along on Jasmine's journey and be encouraged by the powerful and persuasive Black women of our past so that you can help inspire a better, more inclusive future.

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Book Review: Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur

Publisher: Mariner Books

Release Date: October 15, 2019

Genre: Biographies & Memoirs

A daughter’s tale of living in the thrall of her magnetic, complicated mother, and the chilling consequences of her complicity.

On a hot July night on Cape Cod when Adrienne was fourteen, her mother, Malabar, woke her at midnight with five simple words that would set the course of both of their lives for years to come: Ben Souther just kissed me. 
 
Adrienne instantly became her mother’s confidante and helpmate, blossoming in the sudden light of her attention, and from then on, Malabar came to rely on her daughter to help orchestrate what would become an epic affair with her husband’s closest friend. The affair would have calamitous consequences for everyone involved, impacting Adrienne’s life in profound ways, driving her into a precarious marriage of her own, and then into a deep depression. Only years later will she find the strength to embrace her life—and her mother—on her own terms.  

Wild Game is a brilliant, timeless memoir about how the people close to us can break our hearts simply because they have access to them, and the lies we tell in order to justify the choices we make. It’s a remarkable story of resilience, a reminder that we need not be the parents our parents were to us.

❥ Content Warning: May be triggering for some readers due to adult subject matter

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Book Review: We Share the Same Sky by Rachael Cerrotti

New Release!!

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Release Date: August 17, 2021

Genre: Jewish Biographies

In 2009, Rachael Cerrotti, a college student pursuing a career in photojournalism, asked her grandmother, Hana, if she could record her story. Rachael knew that her grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and the only one in her family alive at the end of the war. Rachael also knew that she survived because of the kindness of strangers. It wasn’t a secret. Hana spoke about her history publicly and regularly. But, Rachael wanted to document it as only a granddaughter could. So, that’s what they did: Hana talked and Rachael wrote.

Upon Hana’s passing in 2010, Rachael discovered an incredible archive of her life. There were preserved albums and hundreds of photographs dating back to the 1920s. There were letters waiting to be translated, journals, diaries, deportation and immigration papers as well as creative writings from various stages of Hana’s life.

Rachael digitized and organized it all, plucking it from the past and placing it into her present. Then, she began retracing her grandmother’s story, following her through Central Europe, Scandinavia, and across the United States. She tracked down the descendants of those who helped save her grandmother’s life during the war. Rachael went in pursuit of her grandmother’s memory to explore how the retelling of family stories becomes the history itself.

We Share the Same Sky weaves together the stories of these two young women—Hana as a refugee who remains one step ahead of the Nazis at every turn, and Rachael, whose insatiable curiosity to touch the past guides her into the lives of countless strangers, bringing her love and tragic loss. Throughout the course of her twenties, Hana’s history becomes a guidebook for Rachael in how to live a life empowered by grief.

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Blog Tour: Far Above Rubies by Jolyn Canty

 

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Far Above Rubies by Jolyn Canty, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Far Above Rubies: The Life of Louisa MacDonald
Author: Jolyn Canty
Publisher: Azure Star LLC
Release Date: April 14, 2021
Genre: Biography

Her husband—a friend to Mark Twain, mentor to Lewis Carroll, and the man C.S. Lewis called his “master”—was one of the greatest Christian writers of the Victorian era. She was his hidden gem, the bulwark and bastion on which he could lean. Though she was an accomplished musician and singer, an advocate for the poor and neglected, and a published author, she didn’t need the spotlight, but was content to be her husband’s biggest fan and companion. She bore eleven children and adopted and cared for several others. Enduring hardships few of us will ever experience, this petite woman faced them with courage and strength. Her name was Louisa MacDonald.

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Book Review: Hill Women by Cassie Chambers

Publisher: Ballantine Books (Random House Publishing)

Release Date: January 7, 2020

Genre: Biography Memoir

Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, Owsley County is one of the poorest counties in both Kentucky and the country. Buildings are crumbling and fields sit vacant, as tobacco farming and coal mining decline. But strong women are finding creative ways to subsist in their hollers in the hills.

Cassie Chambers grew up in these hollers and, through the women who raised her, she traces her own path out of and back into the Kentucky mountains. Chambers’s Granny was a child bride who rose before dawn every morning to raise seven children. Despite her poverty, she wouldn’t hesitate to give the last bite of pie or vegetables from her garden to a struggling neighbor. Her two daughters took very different paths: strong-willed Ruth—the hardest-working tobacco farmer in the county—stayed on the family farm, while spirited Wilma—the sixth child—became the first in the family to graduate from high school, then moved an hour away for college. Married at nineteen and pregnant with Cassie a few months later, Wilma beat the odds to finish school. She raised her daughter to think she could move mountains, like the ones that kept her safe but also isolated her from the larger world.

Cassie would spend much of her childhood with Granny and Ruth in the hills of Owsley County, both while Wilma was in college and after. With her “hill women” values guiding her, Cassie went on to graduate from Harvard Law. But while the Ivy League gave her knowledge and opportunities, its privileged world felt far from her reality, and she moved back home to help her fellow rural Kentucky women by providing free legal services.

Appalachian women face issues that are all too common: domestic violence, the opioid crisis, a world that seems more divided by the day. But they are also community leaders, keeping their towns together in the face of a system that continually fails them. With nuance and heart, Chambers uses these women’s stories paired with her own journey to break down the myth of the hillbilly and illuminate a region whose poor communities, especially women, can lead it into the future.

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Book Review: Dog Flowers by Danielle Geller

Publisher: Random House Publishing

Release Date: January 12, 2021

Genre: Memoirs

A daughter returns home to the Navajo reservation to confront her family's troubled history and retrace her mother's life--using both narrative and archive in this unforgettable and heart-wrenching memoir.

After Danielle Geller's mother dies of a withdrawal from alcohol during a period of homelessness, she is forced to return to Florida. Using her training as a librarian and archivist, Geller collects her mother's documents, diaries, and photographs into a single suitcase and begins on a journey of confronting her family's history and the decisions she's been forced to make, a journey that will end at her mother's home: the Navajo reservation.

Geller masterfully intertwines wrenching prose with archival documents to create a deeply moving narrative of loss and inheritance that pays homage to our pasts, traditions, heritage, the family we are given, and the family we choose.

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Book Review: I've Seen the End of You by W. Lee Warren

Publisher: WaterBrook

Release Date: January 7, 2020

Genre: Biography of Medical Professional

Dr. W. Lee Warren, a practicing brain surgeon, assumed he knew most outcomes for people with glioblastoma, head injuries, and other health-care problems. Yet even as he tried to give patients hope, his own heart would sink as he realized, I've seen the end of you.

But it became far more personal when the acclaimed doctor experienced an unimaginable family tragedy. That's when he reached the end of himself.

Page-turning medical stories serve as the backdrop for a raw, honest look at how we can remain on solid ground when everything goes wrong and how we can find light in the darkest hours of life.

I've Seen the End of You is the rare book that offers tender empathy and tangible hope for those who are suffering. No matter what you're facing, this doesn't have to be the end. Even when nothing seems to makes sense, God can transform your circumstances and your life. And he can offer a new beginning.

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Book Review: Texas Flood by Alan Paul & Andy Aledort

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: August 13, 2019

Genre: Biographies & Memoirs

The first definitive biography of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, with an epilogue by Jimmie Vaughan, foreword by drummer Chris Layton, and afterword by bassist Tommy Shannon.

A clean and sober Stevie Ray Vaughan seemed poised for a new, limitless chapter of his life and career just a few years after his severe addiction to cocaine and alcohol almost killed him. Years of sibling rivalry with big brother Jimmie, his first and greatest musical hero, were behind him, and their first collaborative album was complete and on the verge of being released. His tumultuous marriage was over and he was deeply in love with a supportive, creative woman. His last album had been his most successful, both critically and commercially.

Instead, it all came screeching to a sudden end, when Vaughan was killed in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, after that evening’s dynamic performance with Eric Clapton, leaving an endless stream of What Ifs. He was just 35 years old. In the ensuing 28 years, Vaughan’s legend and acclaim have only grown; he is an international musical icon. Despite the cinematic scope of Vaughan’s life and death, there has never been a truly proper accounting of his story. Until now.

Texas Flood will provide the unadulterated facts about Stevie Ray Vaughan from those who were with him throughout every stage of his life and career and who knew him best: his brother Jimmie, his Double Trouble bandmates Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton and Reese Wynans, and many other close friends, girlfriends, fellow musicians, crew members and managers.

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Book Review: Baby Girl Murphy by Kirsten Hart

Release Date: May 14, 2014

Genre: Biography & Memoir

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hart, we have don't have any birth records for you."  These were the words I heard over the phone when I was trying to locate a copy of my birth certificate for a new passport.  "Have you checked with the Adoption Registry Office?" was the following question.  Adoption?  I was forty-one years old.  I knew who my parents were.  Why would someone suggest that I talk with an Adoption Registry Office?  I just simply needed a copy of my birth certificate.  That phone call led me on a new journey of discovery and secrets.  Who was I?  Who was my birth mother?  Did I have other siblings?  What was my story? 

Baby Girl Murphy is my personal exploration of discovering my new identity and unveiling a secret that God had kept for 41 years.  A secret so dear, yet so mysterious. "...Find out more..." were the words I kept hearing echo through my heart.  Indeed I did find out more.  More than I ever dreamed imaginable.

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The Magnolia Story

 

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: October 18, 2016

Genre: Biographies & Memoirs

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That Churchill Woman

My Rating: ★★★★★

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