A Bridge Across the Ocean

Author: Susan Meissner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2017
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: February, 1946. World War II is over, but the recovery from the most intimate of its horrors have only just begun for Annaliese Lange, a German ballerina desperate to escape her past, and Simone Deveraux, the wronged daughter of a French Resistance spy.

Now the two women are joining hundreds of other European war brides aboard the renowned RMS Queen Mary to cross the Atlantic and be reunited with their American husbands. Their new lives in the United States brightly beckon until their tightly-held secrets are laid bare in their shared stateroom. When the voyage ends at New York Harbor, only one of them will disembark.

Present Day. Facing a crossroads in her own life, Brette Caslake visits the famously haunted Queen Mary at the request of an old friend. What she finds will set her on a course to solve a seventy-year-old tragedy that will draw her into the heartaches and triumphs of the courageous war brides - and will ultimately lead her to reconsider what she has to sacrifice to achieve her own deepest longings.

Review: Meissner is one of my favorite historical fiction authors. Her characters speak to me and the time period comes alive. There's a supernatural element in this novel, but I bought into it. I picked this novel up intending to read a few chapters before I took a shower, and ended up finishing it one night.

My grandparents were the Greatest Generation and I often think of my grandmothers when I read books set during this time period. The 1940s was a decade of both the worst of humanity and the best.

Susan Meissner Novels
As Bright as Heaven
Map to Paradise
Only the Beautiful

Memory Man

Author: David Baldacci
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2015
Pages: 432
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Amos Decker's life changed forever - twice. The first time was on the gridiron. A big, towering athlete, he was the only person from his hometown of Burlington to ever play in the NFL. But, his career ended before it had a chance to begin. On his very first play, a violent helmet-to-helmet collision knocked him off the field forever, and left him with an improbable side effect - he can forget nothing.

The second time was at home nearly two decades later. Now a police detective, Decker returned from a stakeout one evening and entered a nightmare - his wife, young daughter, and brother-in-law had been murdered.

His family destroyed, their killer's identity as mysterious as the motive behind the crime, and unable to forget a single detail from that horrible night, Decker finds his world collapsing around him. He leaves the police force, loses his home, and winds up on the street, taking piecemeal jobs as a private investigator when we can.

But over a year later, a man turns himself in to the police and confesses to the murders. At the same time a horrific event nearly brings Burlington to its knees, and Decker is called back in to help with this investigation. Decker also seizes his chance to learn what really happened to his family that night. To uncover the stunning truth, he must use his remarkable gifts and confront the burdens that go along with them. he must endure memories he'd rather forget. And he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Review: My coworker and friend gifted me this book for my birthday. Baldacci is her favorite author and she was surprised that I've never read him. Subconsciously I don't read many male authors, I read even fewer serial authors, and I don't gravitate to mysteries. I have to say, I loved this book. It's intense. I had to set it down and walk away at different times to pull myself out of the story.

The Wide Wide Sea

Author: Hampton Sides
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2025
Pages: 432
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The Wide Wide Sea details the life and voyages of Captain James Cook, killed by native Hawaiians in an uncharacteristic final act. This is the mystery of Cook's final days, laid bare in riveting narrative fashion.

Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the first chapter. The new world explorers, Cook, Magellan, Hudson, de Leon, and others captured my imagination in school. I would be inclined to read all of Hampton Sides books. I know a lot more about Captain Cook than I had ever expected I would, but the best authors can capture your interest regardless of topic.

The Paris Wife

Author: Paula McLain
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2012
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness - until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group - the fabled "Lost Generation" that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage - a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they've fought so hard for.

Review: I am very late to the party with this one. I'm not a fan of Hemingway's writing style so I put off reading this as a new release in 2012. However, last month my family and I traveled to Key West for the first time and toured Hemingway's home. While the tour focused on his second wife, Pauline, who lived in Key West with Hemingway, his first wife (the Paris wife) was mentioned during the tour. I took it as a sign to read this novel.

I ended up frustrated with Hadley and totally detesting Ernest. What a time those Paris years were, for all of them - Ezra Pound, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and others. 

The Paris Wife is well-written and for that reason I will recommend this novel, but I was happy to leave the "characters" behind.

Corey

Author: Jane Claypool Minor
Genre: Historical Fiction / Sunfire Romance (#22)
Publisher: Scholastic, 1987
Pages: 184
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Freedom gave her the right to live, the chance to love. She escaped from the South to the North, where a boy captured her heart.

In 1846, 16-year-old Corey has known only slavery. But she is courageous and spirited, and though Ned, a handsome slave from the same South Carolina plantation, hopes to marry her some day, Corey longs for a better life. Then the Civil War tears Corey's family apart, but Corey escapes from slavery.

Freedom isn't easy, however. Corey can't find her family, and Ned tells her is running off to fight. Corey has no one left she can trust, so she heads north to Philadelphia. Here she finds a new home and new friends. And she meets Penn Wilson, a dashing young man who captures her heart and introduces her to a new, free world. But when Ned asks Corey to go West with him, the choices of freedom brings seem harder than ever. Will Corey join Ned? Or will she return to the South to help her people - alongside Penn.

Review: This series was a favorite of mine in middle and early high school. I aged out and my tastes changed before I could buy all of the books for myself. However, when I read Paperback Crush, it renewed my interest. 

While this is a simplistic story, appropriate for middle school, I can say I honestly enjoyed this as a 48 year old women. I felt sympathy and empathy for the heroine and I love historical fiction in general. You may see more books from this series as I revisit these stories here and there, if only for the purposes of nostalgia.

Agent 355

Author: Marie Benedict
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc., 2024
Pages: 82
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: During the sweltering summer of 1779, eighteen-year-old Elizabeth Morris attends the social events of the British-occupied city, but the forced merriment holds no charm for her. She finds herself in the company of enemy soldiers, who think nothing of discussing matters of government and war in front of mere women. This invisibility becomes Elizabeth's greatest asset as she offers her services to Robert Townsend, a Continental sympathizer. Her bravery will bring down one of the most notorious traitors in American history and ultimately seal her fate as a woman willing to sacrifice everything for love and country.

Review: I've been fascinated with the Culper Spy Ring since I read Washington's Secret Six in 2014. Marie Benedict's novella dives into the unknown story of Agent 355, and is probably the least imaginative version of who Agent 355 actually might have been. Fun fact - it is possible that Agent 355 was actually several women who provided useful information to the American cause.

Paperback Crush

Author: Gabrielle Moss
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Quirk Publishing, 2018
Pages: 256
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Those pink covers. That flimsy paper. The nonstop series installments that hooked readers through their entire adolescence. These were not the serious-issue novels of the 1970s, not the blockbuster YA trilogies that arrived in the 2000s. Nestled in between were the girl-centric teen books of the 80s and 90s - short, cheap, and utterly adored.

Review: I absolutely loved this trip down Memory Lane. I lived on a steady diet of The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Twins/Sweet Valley High through middle school and even a bit into my freshman year of high school. And, who can forget the Sunfire historical fiction novels that started with Amanda, teenager on a wagon train to Oregon. So much nostalgia, and more, in this book. Don't be surprised if some of those novels pop up in future blog posts. I should revisit some old favorites that, in some way, shaped who I am today.