The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper

The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper

The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper

Synopsis from Goodreads: Based on a seldom-told true story, this novel is perfect for everyone who is fascinated by Britain’s royal family—a behind the scenes look into the nurseries of little princes and the foibles of big princes.

April, 1897: A young nanny arrives at Sandringham, ancestral estate of the Duke and Duchess of York. She is excited, exhausted—and about to meet royalty. . . .

So begins the unforgettable story of Charlotte Bill, who would care for a generation of royals as their parents never could. Neither Charlotte—LaLa, as her charges dub her—nor anyone else can predict that eldest sons David and Bertie will each one day be king. LaLa knows only that these children, and the four who swiftly follow, need her steadfast loyalty and unconditional affection.

But the greatest impact on Charlotte’s life is made by a mere bud on the family tree: a misunderstood soul who will one day be known as the Lost Prince. Young Prince John needs all of Lala’s love—the kind of love his parents won’t…or can’t…show him.

From Britain’s old wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottages to royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom, Charlotte Bill witnesses history. The Royal Nanny is a seamless blend of fact and fiction—an intensely intimate, yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and divides that only love can cross.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book, I know I had heard of Lala before, I believe it was in The Kings Speech so it was neat to see this family from her perspective.

Of course we all know who David and Bertie are but there were a few royals I knew nothing about not only Prince John or Johnnie as he was known but I also knew very little about Queen Alexandra and King Edward so this was a very interesting glimpse into their lives and the lives of their family.

Charlotte Bill or Lala as the boys dubbed her came to the household at a very opportune time and was able to save the boys from a nanny that wasn’t good to them at all. She became indispensable to the family and helped David & Bertie immensely in recovering from the trauma. Lala stayed with the family through 3 more children and until the all the children had grown she took special care of Johnnie who had epilepsy and possibly was somewhere on the autism spectrum, and in that day and age that he wasn’t carted away after his first seizure says so much about the wonderful Lala and the care she gave these children.

This was such an interesting look at the Windsor’s home life from 2 kings before Bertie and the mess with David, I found it interesting that David even as a boy had no interest in being King and was a womanizer even during the 1^st World War. When he was barely 21. Also since the majority of this book takes place before 1918 there were royal visits from their cousins the Tsar & Tsarina and their beautiful girls and even little Alexey it was sad because of knowing what happens to them.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end and thought the author did a great job of combining the fiction with the real and melding them into a great story. This is my first book by this author and I would definitely read another historical fiction by her.

4 Stars

Here are a few Links I found interesting after reading this book

The Authors website with some pictures and some more back ground

The Gold Dress Alexandra wore to the Coronation in 1902

And This Video

Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Narrated By Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Narrated By Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana

Available in house and from Library2Go in both Ebook and Audiobook

 Synopsis from Good Reads:

Inspired by the life of a real World War II heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that were hidden for decades.

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.

For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.

The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.

Susie’s Review of the Audiobook

This book is fabulous and I highly recommend the audio version to truly bring these women to life!

I have read a lot of books on concentration camps and have even visited a few but this was a learning experience for me I had never heard of the Ravensbruck Rabbits, you hear so much about Mengele’s experiments on twins but I never knew about the experiments these women went through in Ravenbruck.

As with any book on concentration camps this one is heartbreaking; however there is so much hope in this book because a large part of the book is about the survivors and the after effects that there is hope and hope’s name is Caroline Ferriday.  She truly saved these women years of pain by getting them to the US and getting them surgery to fix the atrocious things that were done to them.

 I enjoyed the different storylines told by Caroline, Kasia one of the survivors and Herta one of the doctors at the camp which was an interesting storyline because you just couldn’t like her no matter if she felt bad for what she was doing or not. I also enjoyed the addition of Kasia’s sister Suzanna (sp audio) who is a doctor and also a survivor of Ravenbruck.

CAROLINE, read by Cassandra Campbell…KASIA, read by Kathleen Gati….HERTA, read by Kathrin Kana the narration on this book was so fantastic I can’t even come up with enough words to tell you to listen to the audio version of this book. These 3 narrators brought these women to life for me and I believe enhanced my enjoyment of this book.

I could go on and on about this book and I think this will be in my top books of the year this year. So I’ll just say if you enjoy historical fiction or WWII fiction you need to read this book!

5 Stars

The Authors website

http://www.marthahallkelly.com/therabbits/

A little background on Caroline Ferriday

http://connecticuthistory.org/a-godmother-to-ravensbruck-survivors/

Author Elizabeth Wein has a comprehensive page about the Ravensbruck Rabbits

http://www.elizabethwein.com/ravensbrueck-rabbits

America's First Daughter: A Novel by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

America's First Daughter: A Novel by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie narrated by, Cassandra Campbell

Available in house and on Library2Go in Ebook and Audiobook

Synopsis from Goodreads: In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France.

It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age. Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s wife and still be a devoted daughter.

Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

This is a review of the Audiobook

I learned so much about this family and the time period from this book, I enjoyed the excerpts from actual letters it added such an authenticity to this fiction novel. As to the time period first and foremost there are slaves, and secondly the women are such second hand citizens, even though Thomas Jefferson did treat his daughters better than some. The abuse towards women was horrifying, that it was just commonplace made it worse to me. You could be hanged for stealing a horse but beating up your wife or mother in law or daughter was fine.

 Of course we all know about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings relationship and I do feel like that’s what it was, I think Sally truly helped the Jefferson out of his deepest despair and I believe he was grateful for that. It did make me mad that he didn’t free her and their children upon his death. I think that is the least he could have done for all she went through.

I really like Martha’s husband Tom at first but boy oh boy as this book went on he became just like his own father. This woman had 11 children in an age where a lot of women died in childbirth including her own mother and her sister. But the alternative to not doing your wifely duties was to have your husband bed a slave so I guess if you wanted to keep your husband you just kept popping out babies.

The hardships and losses she went through were tough but they made her a very tough woman and I was very impressed with her.

I was also fascinated with the fact that the women were much more “political” than their husbands they were the ones that got the right people to the right dinners and parties and advanced their men’s careers, but of course got no credit for it

Cassandra's narration was fabulous will be surprised if this doesn't get an earphones award and possibly a Audie nomination next year so very well done! I enjoyed that Patsy’s (Martha) voice aged with her and became stronger as she became sure of herself. So well done! This book was 23 hours and I was never bored or distracted and was sad when it ended.

We read this for book club and there were some that felt the Paris section in the beginning was a little romancey but don’t let that put you of, she’s a young girl at the start and this section sets up events later in the book and also shows the lengths she will go for her father.

I see these two authors are writing another book together and I look forward to reading it! I highly recommend this book and even higher recommend it on audio!

4 ½ Stars

Interview/podcast with the authors

https://soundcloud.com/harperaudiopresents/americas-first-daughter

Thomas Jefferson’s letters here

http://founders.archives.gov/

A lot of good info on the family and Monticello

https://www.monticello.org/

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

 Crown Publishing- click to see a clip from one of Sue’s interviews

This book is an absolute must read; especially if you are a person who thinks it must be the parents fault when a child does this kind of horrible act. She makes no excuses and lays bare her grief and guilt for all to see but in laying it all out there is healing and at least some understanding of what was happening in her child, the signs she missed the things she would have done different but hindsight is 20/20 and can any of us say we would have done anything differently.

This book is so powerful I could not put it down, I couldn't help but feel her pain in every word, Sue & Tom were good parents but Dylan was adept at hiding from them what he didn't want them to see. Think for a minute what you hid from your parents when you were a teen…..

It also wasn't just from his parents that he hid this other side of himself , his friends were just as shocked and he had been let out early of a diversion program because they thought he had learned his lesson and probably wouldn't commit another crime and they are professionals there is also his school counselor who read a violent story he had written and didn't see anything to be alarmed about, and as Sue says but she was his mother and she should have seen the signs but he was very good at hiding his inner turmoil there is no guarantees that if she had gotten him help if it would have changed anything. Also from everything I've seen and read including this book I believe Dylan would have committed suicide by himself and not gone on the rampage he did without Eric Harris, no I am not putting all the blame on Eric I am just saying they fed off of each other Eric was more murderous while Dylan was suicidal.

My heart breaks for the grief and hatred she has endured, as she says yes her son was a murderer but he was still the baby she bore and the sweet boy she raised, that is who she mourns, not the stranger who walked into Columbine school that April morning.

As she wrote in her journal on the day she saw the horrible “basement tapes”

Page 125

Page 133

I learned so much about how a suicidal mind works and how so many times the signs are so subtle that it is hard to distinguish between something to be worried about and just normal teenage angst. Not every troubled person acts out some suffer in silence.

I think every High School Counselor, Suicide Prevention Groups, Teachers, and Parents, well really just anyone who deals with young people should read this book, Sue Klebold searched for answers and what she found is truly frightening her child hid so much pain from her and that is heartbreaking. She never stops apologizing to the victims and their families and no matter how much they blame her I honestly don’t think anyone could blame her as much as she blames herself.

So the next time there is a school shooting, please be kinder to the parent of that child.

5 Stars

Cross-posted to MissSusie's Reading & Observations

The Dressmaker's War by Mary Chamberlain narrated by, Susan Duerden

The Dressmaker's War by Mary Chamberlain narrated by, Susan Duerden

Available on Library2Go in Ebook and Audiobook

Soon to be available in house.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Spanning the intense years of war, The Dressmaker's War is a dramatic tale of love, conflict, betrayal and survival. It is the compelling story of one young woman’s resolve to endure and of the choices she must make at every turn – choices which will contain truths she must confront.

London, spring 1939. Eighteen-year-old Ada Vaughan, a beautiful and ambitious seamstress, has just started work for a modiste in Dover Street. A career in couture is hers for the taking – she has the skill and the drive – if only she can break free from the dreariness of family life in Lambeth.

A chance meeting with the enigmatic Stanislaus von Lieben catapults Ada into a world of glamour and romance. When he suggests a trip to Paris, Ada is blind to all the warnings of war on the continent: this is her chance for a new start.

Anticipation turns to despair when war is declared and the two are trapped in France. After the Nazis invade, Stanislaus abandons her. Ada is taken prisoner and forced to survive the only way she knows how: by being a dressmaker. It is a decision which will haunt her during the war and its devastating aftermath.

My Review of the audiobook:

This book hooked me right away and I had a very hard time putting it down. This was a different war story as the majority of the book is set after the war is over and it is an English woman who was a prisoner in Dachau, she was not in the camp she was in the commandant’s house but she was a prisoner none the less.

Yes, there were times when Ada’s choices made you want to grab her and shake her but then you think of how young she was when Stanislaus took her to Paris and then what she went through in Dachau, I’m sure stunted her growth. Even after all she went through she was still so naïve. But I truly think she still only wanted someone to love her and that is why she fell for these men that were definitely not good for her. And you have to remember this was a different time for women even though this isn’t that long ago women were still the weaker sex and could still be lied about and to easily by men. And when you are a young girl just out of captivity with nowhere to go and no one to turn to you are an easy mark for these slime balls.

Susan Duerden’s narration was as always wonderful and added to my enjoyment of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the ending gutted me, I would definitely read more from this author.

4 ½ Stars