Book Review | Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Published by Aladdin on September 1, 2000
Genres: Middle Grade, Historial Fiction, Survival
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Goodreads: ★★★★★

It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever. Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting. Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse. But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate. New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise. But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.

REVIEW

Growing up I was a regular at my local library, and one book that I specifically remember checking out on more than one occasion is Fever 1793. It wasn't until recent years that I discovered it is written by the same author of the acclaimed young adult contemporary Speak – a book I didn't love despite the hype surrounding it. I've been wanting to reread Fever 1793 ever since that discovery, and when I found a used copy at the Strand for $1 I just had to pick it up. 

Fever 1793 is the story of young Mattie Cook, a teenager growing up in Philadelphia and helping her widowed mother run a coffeehouse. The story opens with one of Mattie's childhood friends suddenly dying from the yellow fever, which erupts into a full epidemic throughout her city. Readers follow Mattie as she attempts to escape the disease by leaving Philadelphia for the countryside with her beloved grandfather. Of course, things do not go as planned. 

I am very impressed with how deep and emotional Fever 1793 is, especially for a middle grade novel. I grew to love each and every character, and found myself reaching for the tissues on more than one occasion. Mattie is an excellent first-person narrator, and while some of the dialogue in the book can be considered corny by today's standards, the language stays true to the time period. 

In the same way, it is clear the author did substantial research on yellow fever in order to write a historical fiction novel quite focused on the history.  I really liked how each chapter opened with a quotation from primary source material, whether it be a book from the 18th century or a letter from a politician of the time. It added a lot of credibility to the story, and also made the fictional characters seem more real. I also thought it was smart that the novel concluded with a few pages describing the history of the yellow fever. It's always nice to know precisely what parts of historical fiction are true to history versus created by the author.

All in all, I have nothing but praise for Fever 1793. While my opinion may be biased due to me loving this book as a child, I'm so happy I still enjoyed it as an adult. If you're looking for a great historical fiction novel, I highly recommend this one. Whether you're at the middle grade reading level or not, Fever 1793 is bound to be a great read for you. 

BUY THE BOOK

Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

When you buy a book through the Amazon or Book Depository links above, I earn a small commission through each website's affiliate program. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Review | An Italian Wife by Ann Hood

An Italian Wife by Ann Hood
Published by W. W. Norton & Company on September 2, 2014
Genres: Adult, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: Goodreads Giveaway
Goodreads: ★★★★

An Italian Wife is the extraordinary story of Josephine Rimaldi—her joys, sorrows, and passions, spanning more than seven decades. The novel begins in turn-of-the-century Italy, when fourteen-year-old Josephine, sheltered and naive, is forced into an arranged marriage to a man she doesn't know or love who is about to depart for America, where she later joins him. Bound by tradition, Josephine gives birth to seven children. The last, Valentina, is conceived in passion, born in secret, and given up for adoption.

Josephine spends the rest of her life searching for her lost child, keeping her secret even as her other children go off to war, get married, and make their own mistakes. Her son suffers in World War I. One daughter struggles to assimilate in the new world of the 1950s American suburbs, while another, stranded in England, grieves for a lover lost in World War II. Her granddaughters experiment with the sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll in the 1970s. Poignant, sensual, and deeply felt, An Italian Wife is a sweeping and evocative portrait of a family bound by love and heartbreak.

REVIEW

I was extremely excited when I won An Italian Wife from Goodreads. I'm half Italian, and grew up surrounded by Italian culture. My grandma is one of fourteen children, so I'm familiar with the food and traditions that come with being an Italian-American. I could thus relate to the characters in An Italian Wife, and I think that is one reason why I found this story so emotionally beautiful. 

Hood is an amazing storyteller. Her writing is compelling, her characters are well-crafted, and her settings are pristinely described. I found An Italian Wife to be so interesting because of the dramatic events inside each chapter. I felt every emotion while reading this book – shock, sadness, happiness, relief, heartbreak, and so on. There is no denying that An Italian Wife is a great story, and one that I would definitely read again.

That being said, I did have a few problems with the organization of the book. The story is told in the third person, with the book being broken down into three parts, each based on a generation of Josephine Rimaldi's family.  In the first part, readers follow Josephine as she is married off as a teenager and moved to America where she begins her family. This first section is dedicated to Josephine, and then her children. Time flies by quite quickly, and I had to try to calculate the years in my head. 

Next, the second and third parts of An Italian Wife follow Josephine's grandchildren and great-grandchildren respectively. Each chapter will focus on a different character. We hear that person's story and learn about his or her life before moving onto the next family member. On the one hand, I really enjoyed this style of writing because I got to meet each of Josephine's family members on an individual basis. On the other, it was frustrating to become attached to a character only to have that person's story end on a cliffhanger and never find out what becomes of him or her. Overall, this organizational structure was quite difficult to get used to, but I did come to like it in the end. 

In addition, I was often confused by the characters in the book, and had to keep referencing the family tree in the front of the novel. This is because many characters have a nickname that is used interchangeably with his or her real name. Hood also assumes that readers will understand that "Mama Jo" is "Josephine" later on in the book without any explanation. I definitely would have appreciated, if not less characters, less nicknames. 

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed An Italian Wife despite my problems with the novel's organization and confusing cast of characters. The story is just beautifully laid out, and I found it extremely touching. This is a book I would love to see adapted as a television program, as it would last several seasons thanks to the decades it spands and the great characters it follows. Producers take note!

BUY THE BOOK

Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

When you purchase a book through the Amazon or Book Depository links above, I earn a small commission through each website's affiliate program. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Book Review | The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling

I was lucky to receive an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Diamond Thief by Sharon Gosling at BookCon earlier this year, and decided to give it a read before it's released in October. The Diamond Thief is a genre-bending, young adult story, and it's like nothing I've ever read!

Our protagonist is Rémy Brunel, a sixteen-year-old trapeze artist who works in a traveling circus. While the circus is in London, the circus master gives her an assignment – she must steal a rare and expensive diamond. Rémy accepts the task, since she and her fellow circus members are all trained to steal as well as perform in the show. But as Rémy goes undercover to scope out the diamond's whereabouts, things don't go according to plan.

The story that follows is full of surprises. The Diamond Thief is part historical fiction, part mystery, part steampunk, part love story, and so on. It truly reaches a variety of genres while still forming a fantastic story with a number of unexpected turns. I was thoroughly impressed with the uniqueness of The Diamond Thief, and Gosling's ability to create an imaginative story.

My only drawback with this book is that the writing is very pragmatic. I can tell it is written for a younger audience, and that took away from my reading experience a bit. With such a mysterious plot, I would have liked a different writing style that showed instead of told. Nonetheless, I give The Diamond Thief a four out of five stars on Goodreads for its ingenuity, and recommend it to younger readers (middle school through high school). The Diamond Thief will be officially released on October 1, 2014, and available for purchase on Amazon HERE.

I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I mention easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Book Review | The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson

I am so excited to share my latest read with all of you! I won an advance copy of The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hogson on Goodreads, and made it my first priority during the Bout of Books 10.0 Readathon that is happening right now (check out my Day 1 and Day 2 posts for more information). I read all 380 pages within two days, and I am pleased to report it earned a full 5/5 star rating!

The Devil in the Marshalsea is a historical fiction book that takes place in 1727. The story is told through our main character's perspective. His name is Tom Hawkins, and he's a 25-year-old gentleman who studied to be a reverend, but was led astray due to his love for women, drinking, and gambling. The book opens with Tom scrounging together enough money to pay his landlord the debts he owes, but before Tom can pay his debts, he is robbed of every penny. The next day he is thrown into debtors gaol (pronounced "jail"), and the real excitement begins!

Gaol in 18th century England is truly hell. In order to avoid the dreaded Common Side, where prisoners are packed in tight quarters and dying of gaol fever, one must pay room and board to live on the Master's Side – a difficult task to accomplish when one is thrown into gaol for owing money in the first place. Tom meets an interesting fellow named Samuel Fleet, who pays his rent. But Fleet is not a favorite in the Marshalsea, the gaol where Tom now stays. In fact, Fleet's last roommate was brutally murdered and it soon becomes Tom's job to find out who did the deed, or he will be unable to escape the Marshalsea.

The Devil in the Marshalsea is thus a murder mystery story filled with twists and turns. Hodgson does an amazing job of building complex characters, and also educating the reader about life in a debtors gaol in the 1700s. I was amazed to find out that many of the characters in this book are based off of real life personalities, and I am now interested to learn more about this culture that I never knew existed. But aside from the fascinating history, the story of The Devil in the Marshalsea is just pure awesome. If you're a fan of Clue, you will love this book. The ending was shocking, and every time I thought I knew what was going to happen next, I was quite surprised. According to Goodreads, this is the first book in the new Tom Hawkins series, and I just need to find out what happens next!

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Devil in the Marshalsea, and highly recommend it. It was definitely my favorite read of 2014 thus far. It comes out on June 10, so be sure to preorder your copy on Amazon HERE. You don't want to miss out on this thrill ride!

I use Amazon Affiliate links so you can find the books I talk about easily. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.