Tea Cooper: The Naturalist's Daughter

By Kelly Bridgewater

Two fearless women—living a century apart—find themselves entangled in the mystery surrounding the biggest scientific controversy of the nineteenth century: the classification of the platypus.

1808 Agnes Banks, NSW

Rose Winton wants nothing more than to work with her father, eminent naturalist Charles Winton, on his groundbreaking study of the platypus. Not only does she love him with all her heart but the discoveries they have made could turn the scientific world on its head. When Charles is unable to make the long sea journey to present his findings to the prestigious Royal Society in England, Rose must venture forth in his stead. What she discovers will forever alter the course of scientific history.

1908 Sydney, NSW

Tamsin Alleyn has been given a mission: travel to the Hunter Valley and retrieve an old sketchbook of debatable value, gifted to the Public Library by a recluse. But when she gets there, she finds there is more to the book than meets the eye, and more than one interested party. Shaw Everdene, a young antiquarian bookseller and lawyer, seems to have his own agenda when it comes to the book. Determined to uncover the book's true origin, Tamsin agrees to join forces with him.

The deeper they delve, the more intricate the mystery of the book's authorship becomes. As the lives of two women a century apart converge, discoveries emerge from the past with far-reaching consequences in this riveting tale of courage and discovery.

  

My Thoughts:

If readers are not familiar with Tea Cooper, I believe it is time to start reading her novels. She writes Australian fiction that brings the world of Australia and science together. I have adored Elizabeth Camden who brings American history to life. Cooper does the same thing with science discoveries in Australia. I am not a fan of science. It was the class that I hated in school. I enjoyed the Math part of Chemistry but that was all. However, with The Naturalist’s Daughter, Cooper uses two different time periods, both in the past, 1808 and 1908, to show the importance of family and the discovery of platypus. I loved how Cooper kept piling on the mystery. Every time I think the 1908 heroine may be closer to solving the mystery, Cooper throws in a different twist that makes me want to keep reading. The amount of historical research involved is mind-blowing. To make the observations realistic, Cooper had to have spent tons of time diving into the world of what makes a platypus. From its skeleton, to its breeding process, and the venom they have to defend themselves. The characters are three-dimensional and lifelike. I enjoyed this story and hope Harper Muse keeps publishing her backstories so readers can read them. Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of The Naturalist’s Daughter  by Tea Cooper  from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars

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Mario Escobar: The Forgotten Names

By Kelly Bridgewater

In August 1942, French parents were faced with a horrible choice: watch their children die, or abandon them forever. Fifty years later, it becomes one woman’s mission to match the abandoned names with the people they belong to.

Five years after the highly publicized trial of Klaus Barbie, the “Butcher of Lyon,” law student Valérie Portheret began her doctoral research into the 108 children who disappeared from Vénissieux fifty years earlier, children who somehow managed to escape deportation and certain death in the German concentration camps. She soon discovers that their rescue was no unexplainable miracle. It was the result of a coordinated effort by clergy, civilians, the French Resistance, and members of other humanitarian organizations who risked their lives as part of a committee dedicated to saving those most vulnerable innocents.

Theirs was a heroic act without precedent in Nazi-occupied Europe, made possible due to a loophole in the Nazi agenda to deport all Jewish immigrants from the country: a legally recognized exemption for unaccompanied minors. Therefore, to save their children, the Jewish mothers of Vénissieux were asked to make the ultimate sacrifice of abandoning them forever.

Told in dual timelines, The Forgotten Names is a reimagined account of the true stories of the French men and women who have since been named Righteous Among the Nations, the children they rescued, the stifled cries of shattered mothers, and a law student, whose twenty-five-year journey allowed those children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.

 

My Thoughts:

The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar is an appalling, yet redemptive story about children during World War II. I have read tons of books on World War II, and every story appears to be a little different. Showing the good and horrors of humanity. As the story is written, there are a number of viewpoints from a good chunk of the rescuers to the children to a priest to a Nazi solder. For a while, it was hard to follow the story. But then I didn’t worry about whose point of view the section was in, I just focused on the time period. Made it so much easier to follow the plot. Again, as someone who reads about these dreadful events, I would hope that if I was put in the same situation that I would stand up for the Jewish people no matter the cost. Escobar does a wonderful job at creating empathy for the characters as he shares their plight with the Nazi’s. Even though the creation of the characters are not really that three-dimensional by learning their backgrounds or what makes them tick, readers can still feel horrified with the terrors that does occur to another human by the hand of another who believes he is superior. There are a number of cuss words. A couple of scenes that allude to horrible situations, so be careful when allowing less mature younger children to read this novel. Overall, The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar brings to light the saving grace of 108 children who were saved from having to go to the concentration camps even though they had to take on new identities. A wonderful story to read.

I received a complimentary copy of The Forgotten Names by Mario Escobar from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

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Tea Cooper: The Butterfly Collector

By Kelly Bridgewater

 

A botanical illustration of a butterfly, a missing baby, and a twisty mystery fifty years in the making.

1868, Morpeth. Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family’s country estate than she is in finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby. She cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before seen in Australia. With the help of her maid Clarrie and her beautiful drawings, Theodora is poised to make a scientific discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie’s newborn son goes missing and everything changes.

1922, Sydney. When would-be journalist Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume along with an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball the same day she loses her job at The Arrow, she is both baffled and determined to attend. Her late grandfather, Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation, an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. As she begins to dig, her research quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery—a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

 

My Thoughts:

The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper is a unique story set in Australia. With a fifty year old mystery involving a missing baby and monarch butterflies, Cooper crafted a different story with a twist. I enjoyed the parts of the mystery when the heroine, Verity tried to piece together the pieces to figure out why the butterfly painting looked familiar. Even though the setting is unfamiliar to most American readers, Cooper makes the setting familiar, yet mystic at the same time. The characters are deeply developed with hurts and familiar lifestyles. Surprisingly, something so small as a butterfly could craft an entire story that shows the hurts and betrayals done by certain people that has a butterfly effect fifty years later in a different part of the continent. Overall, The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper was nice to read and captured my attention. Just like all the other Cooper stories that I have read, this one was nicely written and handled. 

I received a complimentary copy of The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Katherine Reay: A Shadow in Moscow

By Kelly Bridgewater

A betrayal at the highest level risks the lives of two courageous female spies: MI6’s best Soviet spy and the CIA’s newest Moscow recruit. As the KGB closes in, a compromise must be struck if either woman hopes to survive.

Vienna, 1954

After losing everyone she loves in the final days of World War II, Ingrid Bauer agrees to a hasty marriage with a gentle Soviet embassy worker and follows him home to Moscow. But nothing deep within the Soviet Union’s totalitarian regime is what it seems, including her new husband, whom Ingrid suspects works for the KGB. Upon her daughter’s birth, Ingrid risks everything and reaches out in hope to the one country she understands and trusts—Britain, the country of her mother’s birth—and starts passing along intelligence to MI6, navigating a world of secrets and lies, light and shadow.

Washington, DC, 1980

Part of the Foreign Studies Initiative, Anya Kadinova finishes her degree at Georgetown University and boards her flight home to Moscow, leaving behind the man she loves and a country she’s grown to respect. Though raised by dedicated and loyal Soviet parents, Anya soon questions an increasingly oppressive and paranoid Soviet regime at the height of the Cold War. When the KGB murders her best friend, Anya picks sides and contacts the CIA. Working in a military research lab, Anya passes along Soviet military plans and schematics in an effort to end the 1980s arms race.

Alternating points of view keep readers on their toes as the past catches up to the present when an unprecedented act of treachery in 1985 threatens all undercover agents operating within the Soviet Union, and both Ingrid and Anya find themselves in a race for their lives against time and the KGB.

 

My Thoughts:

A Shadow of Moscow by Katherine Reay has a synopsis of a Cold War Spy Novel. I enjoy a good spy novel, especially during World War II. However, Reay’s novel does have those elements of a Russian spy with hints of the Nazi Regime that started during World War II. Actually the novel does have a timeline of 1944 with the Nazi’s in it. Some issues with the writing are a lot of telling, not showing. I feel like I was being told a lot of information in information dumps throughout the first 50 percent of the novel. There was a little bit of movement sprinkled in between, but nothing really that important to the idea of the plot. Ingrid, as a character, was really flat. She seemed to have no personality and just moved through the directions and a little bit of discussion. Anya, on the other hand, may be a little more developed, but she seems a little boring too. Both characters are worried about their heritage, but I do not sense a sense of urgency in both characters. If I had the KGB coming after me for something that mother had done in the past, I believe I would be a little more scared. Anya did not have that feeling. Since this a split-time story, I wanted to read more like a story. Overall, A Shadow of Moscow by Katherine Reay did not really capture my attention. With the synopsis, it could have been an interesting story, but I felt like Reay did not deliver what she promised.

I received a complimentary copy of The Shadow of Moscow by Katherine Reay from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Runyan, Ciesieskli, and McMillan: The Castle Keepers

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Leedswick Castle has housed the Alnwick family in the English countryside for generations, despite a family curse determined to destroy their legacy and erase them from history.

1870. After a disastrous dinner at the Astor mansion forces her to flee New York in disgrace, socialite Beatrice Holbrook knows her performance in London must be a triumph. When she catches the eye of Charles Alnwick, one of the town’s most enviably-titled bachelors, she prepares to attempt a social coup and become the future Marchioness of Northridge. When tragedy and scandal strike the Alnwick family, Beatrice must assume the role of a lifetime: that of her true, brave self.

1917. Artist Elena Hamilton arrives in Northumberland determined to transform a soldier’s wounds into something beautiful. Tobias Alnwick’s parents have commissioned a lifelike mask to help their son return to his former self after battle wounds partially destroyed his face. But Elena doesn’t see a man who needs fixing—she sees a man who needn’t hide. Yet secrets from their past threaten to chase away the peace they’ve found in each other and destroy the future they’re creating.

1945. Alec Alnwick returns home from the war haunted but determined to leave death and destruction behind. With the help of Brigitta Mayr, the brilliant young psychoanalyst whose correspondence was a lifeline during his time on the Western Front, he reconstructs his family’s large estate into a rehabilitation center for similarly wounded soldiers. Now Alec’s efforts may be the only chance to redeem his family legacy—and break the curse on the Alnwick name—once and for all.

 

My Thoughts:

The 1870 era novella by Aimie K. Runyan starts after some of the curse has already been placed on the house. With a hasty wedding and a family that does not really like Beatrice, the plot has is guaranteed to be a conflict of interest from the first meeting. Charles and Beatrice knows the wedding is the perfect recipe for a loving marriage, but they learn to trust each other no matter what Charles’ family believes. The characters are nicely handled and crafted. Readers will root for Beatrice as she tries to make her way as the Marchioness of Northridge. Runyan’s description of the forgotten castle does spark my imagination and will make readers want to wander the hallways of the castle. A nicely handled story, but the ending came as a rush to the current curse.

The 1917 era novella by J’nell Ciesieskli features a wounded hero who wanders how to make a place in the world with his physical deformities. Enter Elena Hamilton, an artist, who wants to make her mark on this beautiful world. This novella is a kind of like a Beauty and the Beast type story. Again, readers are wandering the halls of the Leedswick Castle as the events unfold. Ciesieskli crafts a nicely handled plot with the limited amount of space that novellas allow. Readers will enjoy the connection to Leedswick Castle and the 1870’s characters. 

The 1945 novella by Rachel McMillan uses psychology to contact the hero and the heroine. Again, readers are taken to Leedswick Castle to help recover and learn more about the curse on the house. The characters were a little different this time. A little more freedom as the clock is ticked away. Readers will see the change in women’s freedom through the course of this book. McMillan characters come together after World War II, which is one of my favorite eras to read. The plot features dreams and how to make sense of the nightmares that plague the soldiers.

Overall, some of the novellas seemed rush to the ending that help cure the curse for each generation. The novellas started out with an exciting incident, then moved forward to the development of the characters while introducing the climactic moment. But then the novella progresses, and it is time to wrap up, so the authors rush to the conclusion. While I believe each story could be made into a complete novel instead of just a novella, maybe then the ending would not feel so rushed.

I received a complimentary copy of The Castle Keepers by Aimie K. Runyan, J’nell Ciesieskli, and Rachel McMillan from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

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Mario Escobar: The Swiss Nurse

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Based on the true story of an astonishingly brave woman who saved hundreds of mothers and their children during the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Elisabeth Eidenbenz left Switzerland in 1937 to aid children orphaned during the Spanish Civil War. Now, her work has led her to France, where she’s determined to provide expectant mothers and their unborn children a refuge amid one of the worst humanitarian crises of the twentieth century.

Desperate to escape the invasion of Franco’s Fascist troops, Isabel Dueñas becomes one of many Spanish patriots fleeing their country. She leaves behind her husband as he fights for democracy, and she seeks asylum in a refugee camp across the border in France. Without adequate shelter, clean drinking water, or medical care, Isabel’s future looks bleak—until she meets Elisabeth.

When Germany invades Poland, a new avalanche of humanity enters France. And soon, fate binds Elisabeth and Isabel together in the most important work of their lives.

Based on the true stories of refugees and the woman who risked everything to save them, The Swiss Nurse shares a message of love and strength amid one of the darkest moments in history.

 

My Thoughts:

The Swiss Nurse by Mario Escobar features three different viewpoints that tell a different, yet unique event that occurred during World War II. While time-slip novels are interesting and different viewpoints usually work really well, I had a hard time following the different viewpoints in this novel. I don’t know if when the story was translated that the smooth transition to show the perspectives got muddled. There was a lot of carnage and damage from bombs, but the characters seem pretty stiff and one-dimensional. I had a hard time keeping track of the characters and if there were relationships between the different characters. As a word of caution, there are many foul words in the story and that did not make me happy either. I do not believe they need to be in any story. No matter the genre. Overall, The Swiss Nurse by Mario Escobar did not deliver what was promised. It was pretty hard to follow the characters and the plot. It might because of the translation from one language to another.

I received a complimentary copy of The Swiss Nurse by Mario Escobar from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  3 out of 5 stars

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Jenni L. Walsh: The Call of the Wrens

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Introducing the little-known story of the daring women who rode through war-torn Europe, carrying secrets on their shoulders . . .

An orphan who spent her youth without a true home, Marion Hoxton found in the Great War something other than destruction. She found a chance to belong. As a member of the Women’s Royal Naval Service—the Wrens—Marion gained sisters. She found purpose in her work as a motorcycle dispatch rider, assigned to train and deliver carrier pigeons to the front line. And, despite the constant threat of danger, she and her childhood friend Eddie began to dream of a future together. Until the battle that changed everything.

Now, twenty years later, another war has broken out across Europe, calling Marion to return to the fight. Meanwhile, others, like twenty-year-old society girl Evelyn Fairchild, hear the call for the first time. For Evelyn, it’s a way to prove herself after a childhood fraught with surgeries and limitations from a disability. And with the re-formation of the Wrens as World War II rages, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a difference in the world at seventy miles per hour.

Told in alternating narratives that converge in a single life-changing moment, The Call of the Wrens is a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it.

 

My Thoughts:

The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh introduces readers to a world of brave women during World War II who rode motorcycles to deliver messages across and through enemy lines. Being an avid reader of World War II novels, I have never heard of motorcycle riders. Bicycle riders, yes, but not motorcycles. The first thirty percent of the novel was setting up understanding the two heroines and their lives before they are thrown in the dangers of the World Wars. At times, it seemed to be going nowhere. Walsh was leading up to the war, but it seemed a lot of time to spend in the backstory that could have been sprinkled later on in the actual story. Story felt realistic and unique, but it did drag for a while and not keep my attention for long. There was a romance in the past timeline, but I did not know if I liked it or not. Felt realistic enough to go with the story, but I did not care about their relationship at all. Walsh does a good job at crafting the novel. Her writing was nicely done, but I need more movement in my stories to capture my attention. Overall, The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh was a unique and different storyline, but the plot needed more action.

I received a complimentary copy of The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

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Lawhon, McMorris, and Meissner: When We Had Wings

By Kelly Bridgewater

From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale of a trio of World War II nurses in the Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival.

The Philippines, 1941. When US Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, US Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war.

Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the US military and the Japanese Imperial Army for control of the Philippine islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy’s blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, they strive to keep their hope—and their fellow inmates—alive, though not without great cost.

In this sweeping story based on the true experiences of nurses dubbed “the Angels of Bataan,” three women shift in and out of each other’s lives through the darkest days of the war, buoyed by their unwavering friendship and distant dreams of liberation.

 

My Thoughts:

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristian McMoriss, and Susan Meissner is a unique story set in the Pacific War during World War II. The story is told from three friends who are nurses as they face the military might of the Japanese army. Most World War II stories are set in Europe, so it was a nice change to see the war from a different perspective. The realistic elements of the war waging all around the characters rang true and horrific to the story. The heroines were wanting a little adventure when the story began, but as the story progressed, much more adventure awaited each individual woman. The writing is realistic, gritty, and horrifying. I had no issues with seeing what was happening. It was nice to put the characters in a realistic situation and show their real emotions as they deal with the horrors of what was happening around them. As for any romance, there was a slight thread, but nothing that took away from the horrors of the war and bombs flying everywhere. While the story is different and unique, the plot read like a documentary. Kind of dry with facts after facts listed. I had a really hard time staying focused as I read the plot. Wanted more personal fictionalized storyline to the story. Overall, When We Had Wings by Lawhon, McMorris, and Meisnner pictured a Pacific World War II story with plenty of realistic images, but I found majority of the story dry and did not capture my attention.

I received a complimentary copy of When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMoriss, and Susan Meissner from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 stars

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Mario Escobar: The Teacher of Warsaw

 By Kelly Bridgewater

The start of the Second World War changed everything in Poland irrevocably—except for one man’s capacity to love.

September 1, 1939. Sixty-year-old Janusz Korczak and the students and teachers at his Dom Sierot Jewish orphanage are outside enjoying a beautiful day in Warsaw. Hours later, their lives are altered forever when the Nazis invade. Suddenly treated as an outcast in his own city, Janusz—a respected leader known for his heroism and teaching—is determined to do whatever it takes to protect the children from the horrors to come.

When over four hundred thousand Jewish people are rounded up and forced to live in the 1.3-square-mile walled compound of the Warsaw ghetto, Janusz and his friends take drastic measures to shield the children from disease and starvation. With dignity and courage, the teachers and students of Dom Sierot create their own tiny army of love and bravely prepare to march toward the future—whatever it may hold.

Unforgettable, devastating, and inspired by a real-life hero of the Holocaust, The Teacher of Warsaw  reminds the world that one single person can incite meaning, hope, and love.

 

 

My Thoughts:

The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar is a horrific portrayal of life inside the Warsaw Ghetto. Lots of horrible descriptions of the reality of this place. Lots of hurt, hunger, and dismay, but the Teacher overshines all this darkness and always puts the love of the children above his own. He keeps telling his other helpers to leave and escape. Help the children escape. He went to the prison a number of times for standing up for the little man. He sought out food for the children on a daily basis. The plot is completely different than most World War II novels that I have read because I knew about the ghetto's, but I honestly, cannot recall any other story that takes place inside these places. A dark and humbling time in European's history. If readers are a fan of World War II, then this is a great novel to pick up. I learned so more about World War II. I saw the good sprinkled in with the bad and saw the shining light of the heart of man.

I received a complimentary copy of The Teacher of Warsaw by Mario Escobar from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Katherine Reay: The London House

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britain’s World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.

Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.

Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.

Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.

In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart.

 

My Thoughts:

The London House’s cover is a beautiful masterpiece. Katherine Reay crafted together a story told through a present viewpoint and the past is told through the eyes of handwritten letters and journal entries. While the concept is really interesting, the delivering of the plot was a little harder to stay focused. I wanted to follow and see what actually was the truth behind Caroline’s great-aunt too. I think when the past story is told through the letters, it buts the readers at a distance from the actual story. It would have been nice to actually see the great-aunt Caroline in her story in an actual story format. Instead of being told second-hand what actually occurred. There were moments that I flipped through the story that I kept nodding off. I did enjoy the last ten percent of the novel where present day Caroline, Mat, her dad, and her mother were on racing against the clock to see what the actual ending the great-aunt’s life was. This was nicely handled. Reay does not how to write beautifully, and the story was a little different than anything I have ever encountered, but not one of my favorite World War II novels. There is a hint of romance near the end of the novel that really didn’t force itself on the readers or the characters. Overall The London House was told through letters, so it did not capture my attention like I hoped it would.

I received a complimentary copy of  The London House by Katherine Reay from Harper Muse  Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

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Patti Callahan: Once Upon a Wardrobe

 By Kelly Bridgewater

From Patti Callahan, the bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis, comes another enchanting story that pulls back the curtain on the early life of C. S. Lewis.

“Where did Narnia come from?”

The answer will change everything.

Megs Devonshire is brilliant with numbers and equations, on a scholarship at Oxford, and dreams of solving the greatest mysteries of physics.

She prefers the dependability of facts—except for one: the younger brother she loves with all her heart doesn’t have long to live. When George becomes captivated by a brand-new book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and begs her to find out where Narnia came from, there’s no way she can refuse.

Despite her timidity about approaching the famous author, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with the Oxford don and his own brother, imploring them for answers. What she receives instead are more stories . . . stories of Jack Lewis’s life, which she takes home to George.

Why won’t Mr. Lewis just tell her plainly what George wants to know? The answer will reveal to Meg many truths that science and math cannot, and the gift she thought she was giving to her brother—the story behind Narnia—turns out to be his gift to her, instead: hope.

 

My Thoughts:

I am a huge fan of C. S. Lewis. I love reading his biographies and learning about his creative process. I love learning about how important imagination is to him. It is important to me too, so I really love reading about his life. I have read so many books by him and about him. I wrote three essays in college using his stories, letters, biographies, and autobiographies to craft these essays. I read Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan, and I loved learning more about Joy Davidman, so I could not wait to read this next novel that dives into Lewis’ world again. The cover to this novel draws me in, and I really could not wait to dive into this story. Being familiar with many of Lewis’s biographies, I really knew what the story was going to be about. The story is basically a split-time novel. We have the present day story where Meg is visiting Lewis and his brother, Warnie, then flipping back to telling the past stories to George. While the writing was good, I felt like I was in England, which I have never been, and enjoyed that the story takes place during the winter in England. As an avid reader of Lewis’ life, I knew pretty much all of the stories that Meg told George. Nothing new there. Not that I did not mind this. It might be a great way to introduce new readers to Lewis life. Another thing that bothered me was that Callahan really did not explain the real answer to the change in Meg and George’s life at the end of the story. It was hinted out, but never told out right what it was. Also, the last chapter was very confusing. I did not really know whose perspective the chapter was in. Overall Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan is a good introduction to fans of Lewis’ Narnia series but really not much else about his life. I think a physical copy is still needed in my library.

I received a complimentary copy of Once upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 stars

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