Susan Wittig Albert

What the heck happened to China in this book? First she lets Justine come rushing in and order her around. Then she proceeds to let the two-timing McQuaid walk all over her by saddling her with the brat. Next she lets his girlfriend play a part in the whole hospital thing AND she makes "friends" with her right away. OMGWTFBBQ?! Oh hell no! Was she smoking some of the herbs she grows in her herb shop?!

-The old China would have told Justine & Ruby to pound sand when they start barking out show more orders.

-When she and McQuaid are finally having it out about the phone call and the phone rings in the middle they should've taken the damn thing off the hook and finished talking. You don't let a stupid phone call interrupt something that important and that intense.

-When McQuaid tells her to take the kid while he takes off (after the whole being a jerk episode) she should've said NO & if he left anyway she should've brought the brat to his grandparents.

-At the hospital when the nurse assumes she is McQuaid's wife she should have taken advantage of the situation and when THE BITCH girlfriend insists on coming to see McQuaid she should've used the leverage she had to tell the nurse she wanted to see McQuaid alone. Also, she should've told THE BITCH to go F herself.

-She should have worked the parent's angle too. McQuaid's parents know her and love her. Shut THE BITCH out. Make them hate her too.

-When THE BITCH make the remark that she is going to keep trying to GET McQuaid China seriously should've quit it with the whole martyr routine and she SHOULD have torn the cow a new one.

-Honestly, I've thought China could do better than McQuaid all along and this book is proof of it. She was better off living in her little cottage area behind the shop. If I were in her shoes I would have dumped the bastard and his brat after the crap he pulled.

This is the only one of the China stories that I will NEVER READ AGAIN.

*BTW, if you liked how the whole girlfriend/China/McQuaid turned out YOU ARE A DOORMAT. show less

For good and for bad, I do most of my learning through historical fiction. This historical novel about Eleanor Roosevelt and the reporter who was, for a time, her lover, was a delicious, delightful read that gave me many oh-no-way! moments and lots of trips to Wiki to research more.

Albert wrote the fabulous A Wilder Rose, about Rose Wilder and her famous mother, Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was so curious to see how she would handle Eleanor Roosevelt and her romantic relationship with AP reporter show more Lorena Hickok.

Lorena Hickok, a journalist, met Eleanor Roosevelt in 1928, when she was assigned to cover the elections that year. She and Eleanor had an instant rapport, and Hick (as she was called) was nursing a broken heart. She didn't think something would flare up between her and this soon-to-be very public figure -- but something did, and it had wide-ranging impact on the both of them, both emotionally, personally, and professionally.

The novel reads in a kind of journalistic manner, very matter-of-fact at times, which is both maddening and seems appropriate for Hick. She reflects on her relationship with "Madam", her nickname for Eleanor, and through her, Albert provides a wealth of fabulous detail about the era, the politics of the time, and illuminates a woman who is both very public and very private. (For those with anxieties about gay sex, it is merely alluded to, and very lightly, so please don't let that be a reason to skip this intriguing read!)

And while the book's hook is that romance, in many ways, this is a biographical novel about Hick, too -- a woman I've never heard of but am now fascinated by. When it seems her romance with Eleanor becomes too public, Hick is shunted off to work as an investigator for the newly formed FERA -- Federal Emergency Relief Administration -- a job she accepts reluctantly. But it transforms her into an advocate for those without a voice, and allows her to shed light on the real hardships Americans faced in the 1930s. 

In the worn-out coalfields of West Virginia and Kentucky, the human pain was inescapable. It  lay like an open wound across the landscape. (p189)

Albert includes an 11-page Biographical Afterward, that details some of the whitewashing of Eleanor Roosevelt's romantic past (a read as fascinating as this novel!). There's also a four-page Who's Who and two pages of bibliography.

A wonderful read from an author who consistently impresses me with her great choice in heroines, detailed research, and warmly rendered stories. show less

I read an advanced reading copy of the book, via NetGalley.

As a child, I was obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House books. They were my first great loves in the field of historical fiction. I went so far as to join my grandma in her trips to the little genealogy library at the Mormon church in town, where I researched the Wilders and Ingalls. That was how I learned the books had a lot more fiction to them--because their journey didn't follow the order of the series, and show more several dead babies were buried along the way. This untruth bothered me a lot at age 9.

On NetGalley, I saw this fictionalized account of Laura's relationship with her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, and I knew I wanted to read it. In recent years I've become aware that Lane heavily rewrote her mother's childhood stories, and I wanted to know more. As a writer, I now understand how real events sometimes must be softened and edited for the sake of storytelling.

Albert has created a solid work. It may be fictionalized, but she obviously put a lot of work and research into it, and it's an enthralling read. The book focuses on the 1930s when the stock market crash left Rose destitute and forced her prolonged stay at her parents' farm in rural Mansfield. If, like me, you have grown up with an image of a sassy yet good Laura, you have to reconcile yourself with the grown up Laura as shown through her daughter's eyes. Laura is meddlesome, gossiping, and very worried about appearances in town. It feels real and nuanced, and 3rd person sections set in the "present" (later in the 30s) show Rose has become much like her mother in some ways.

One thing that stood out to me was that it is heavily implied that Rose is bisexual. I can see why the author might avoid making an absolute declaration, but since it IS in Rose's viewpoint so much, it felt odd that it just hinted. The book certainly didn't need anything graphic, but something more definitive within Rose's viewpoint would have clarified things.

I highly recommend this for grown up readers with fond memories of the Little House books. show less

Susan Wittig Albert seems to have moved from her herbal mysteries to historical fiction and appears to be doing a good job in this new genre. I downloaded this audio book after reading Ike & Kay because it appeared that this book was going to give the reader a fuller picture not only of Eisenhower’s relationship with Kay Somersby, but also with his wife, Mamie.

Although it’s never been definitively proven whether or not Ike consummated his relationship with Kay, the author clearly show more believes that he did, and so do I. It’s inconceivable that a man of Eisenhower’s rank and global stature would be impotent (and yes, yes, I know this is possible. I just don’t believe it.). He’s portrayed as a warm and caring man who eventually made his choice of career/ambition over what, perhaps, were the true feelings in his heart.

Kay is not naïve, but falls into the all too familiar trap of choosing to believe what is being promised however unrealistic those promises seem to people less smitten with love.

Mamie is a very silly woman. She’s the spoiled daughter of wealthy parents who never grew up and chooses to languish as a semi-invalid because she is “delicate.” She’s like a 19th century character who is always unwell, but in the end, ends up outliving all the other main players.

This book makes me want to venture into the non-fiction shelves at the library and read about what made these people really tick. show less