Really good and interesting historical story.
Be forewarned that there are parts that will tug at your heartstrings if you're a Mom and might cause you to reach for the Kleenex box.
Good writing.
Be forewarned that there are parts that will tug at your heartstrings if you're a Mom and might cause you to reach for the Kleenex box.
Good writing.
A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith is a book about the gold star mothers - mothers who have lost a child in the service of their country. The book is about one group's pilgrimage to visit the grave sites of their children in Europe. Some of the writing was emotional and moving but the book had a number of different story lines. It could have been a truly wonderful book had the story remained more focused.
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/04/a-star-for-mrs-blake-novel.html
Read my complete review at: http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2014/04/a-star-for-mrs-blake-novel.html
I want to encourage anyone who feels the "first act" of the book is slow (I certainly did) -- everything picks up with the arrivals in New York and Paris. Graceful and heartfelt writing.
I very much liked this story - it takes on a unique piece of history that I never knew about, the gold star moms (those that lost a child in WWI). The story is captivating; I also like that it touches on differences in how mothers of color were treated differently than their Caucasian sisters...also interesting to see treatment of the less than sane....and then, the extremely wealthy.
There are a couple of spots of drama and action that were interesting, such as when the bus of mothers has a picnic lunch and encounters a German grenade (...there are still undetonated land mines in some places to this day that are occasionally found).
I'll say that while I like the book, the ending kind of fizzled a little. Was hoping for a little more of something to tie together some loose ends.
Book was a GoodRead (and I'll mention that this was a GoodReads giveaway)!
There are a couple of spots of drama and action that were interesting, such as when the bus of mothers has a picnic lunch and encounters a German grenade (...there are still undetonated land mines in some places to this day that are occasionally found).
I'll say that while I like the book, the ending kind of fizzled a little. Was hoping for a little more of something to tie together some loose ends.
Book was a GoodRead (and I'll mention that this was a GoodReads giveaway)!
