Juliette Fay

There aren't enough well-written romantic dramas around anymore (everyone seems to want to write suspense), so I'm grateful to Juliette Fay for providing me with a well-written, engaging one. Cass is a pregnant alcoholic. Scott is an emotionally scarred journeyman baseball player. They have nothing in common except Ben, the father of Cass' child and Scott's brother, who died of alcohol poisoning. Scott reluctantly let Cass move into his house temporarily, and she promises to sober up for the show more sake of the baby. Cass is fragile and insecure, but after a short stay in a rehab facility she is determined to change - attending meetings, finding a sponsor, and making a few unexpected friends along the way. But her sobriety is tested numerous times, and her relationship with Scott is confusing to say the least.

Cass' mother died when Cass was a teenager, leaving her to fend for herself in foster care. She's always been poor, barely scraping by on low-wage, short-term jobs. She loved Ben, but their relationship was based on drinking, being hungover, or finding the next drink. It's easy to root for her recovery and understand how alcohol remains such a temptation when she is stressed. I appreciated the evolution of her relationship with the family next door and her attempts to help another friend who is also trying to get sober. Scott is a bit of an uncommunicative jerk sometimes, but he also had a traumatic childhood, and he demonstrates his support and generosity in many ways. As much as I dislike the "heroine falls in love with former lover's brother" trope, in this case it didn't bother me because the relationship develops very gradually, to the point where I wondered if it would happen at all.

The outline of the book may sound cliched, but Juliette Fay fills in the story with nuanced characters and dynamics, turning a long novel into a compelling, page-turning read.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review. show less

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a digital advance reader copy. All comments and opinions are my own unless otherwise noted.

I loved this! It was as good as I hoped it would be and had so many of my favorite criteria: historical fiction (no wars), female friendships, a bit of romance, based on a true but little-known US institution, and well-researched.

The criteria alone isn’t enough to make a book great, it’s the writing and the characters, the plot and the action. I loved the show more two main characters, as well as so many of the others. And the villain was sufficiently worthy of the resolution (no spoilers). I found this to be extremely well-written. I couldn’t put it down and was sad when I finished it.

Mostly taking place in 1926, two young women from vastly different backgrounds “join the ranks of the Harvey Girls, waitresses who serve in America’s first hospitality chain on the Santa Fe railroad. Hired on the same day, they share three things: a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other…and each has a secret that will certainly get them fired.” Who could resist this plot? And it reads even better than it sounds.

I’m a fan of Juliette Fay and have read two of her other historical novels, "The Tumbling Turner Sisters" and "City of Flickering Light"" so when I saw this I knew it would be great – and I was not disappointed. I plan to seek out her other novels and I highly recommend these! show less

The following review was requested by the lovely people over at Wunderkind PR who always seem to know just what kind of books I like. :-)

The Tumbling Turner Sisters by Juliette Fay has whispers of Little Women in that the story revolves around 4 sisters who are very different but each with defining character traits. However, this story doesn't take place in the home but out on the road as the girls and their mom leap (quite literally) into the world of vaudeville. It has a strong Water for show more Elephants vibe in that there is a host of rich characters that crop up and sometimes fade away after only a few pages never to be seen again. The book bounces between two of the sisters: Gert (the beauty) and Winnie (the brains). It's not a jarring transition but I would have liked to see from the eyes of Kit and Nell (the other two sisters). Fay is able to weave real people (Cary Grant makes an appearance but you won't realize it until you read the author's notes at the end.) and historical events to fit into her narrative (I can't tell you what they are or it'll spoil it.). I love the fact that the theaters chosen for this book can still be visited today and I hope to get to see them in the near future. :-) Our story begins in 1919 with the family visited by two tragedies at once. One of them changes the life of a sister irrevocably and the other sets the family on a path that they never could have foreseen. As vaudeville performers, they glimpse a world that they never could have dreamed of and it strengthens their bonds while also testing their limits. There's romance, daring, anguish, and above all the lure of the limelight. My only regret is that the book ends in such a way that the reader is left feeling saddened that they may never know what became of these characters. I'll definitely be adding more of Juliette Fay's books to my TRL. show less

The glamor and relentless nature of vaudeville theaters provide the setting for this novel about a group of sisters who become the family breadwinners through their acrobatic routine. The Turner sisters find their way into vaudeville through their mother's encouragement and financial necessity. As the sisters travel, they meet other vaudeville players, friendly and not, and find both adventure and disaster on the road. This novel was both fun at times and uncomfortable at others - I show more appreciated the author's frank descriptions of vaudeville acts which included blackface and racist language, which highlight the dark side of this world. An interesting read, especially for those interested in vaudeville in the post-WWI era. show less