Review: Love Comes Calling by Siri Mitchell

Love Comes Calling
By: Siri Mitchell
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0-7642-1036-5

Review:

Ellis Eton is sick and tired of being a disappointment to her strait-laced, well-to-do Boston family. Though she tries, she never seems to have any follow-through, personally or academically, leaving a trail of frustrated chaos in her wake. The only thing her restless, active mind and boundless energy allow her to do well is act -- and on stage she can escape who she is and be anyone she wants, anyone but herself, the disappointing Eton daughter. When she's informed by a professor that she's failed economics and is in danger of flunking out of Radcliffe College, she hatches a daring plan -- she'll runaway to seek her fortune as an actress in Hollywood. The only problem is her lack of funds...

Making the stars in her eyes a Hollywood reality seems like another failed Ellis scheme in the making until Janie Winslow, daughter of a family servant, begs for help. Janie needs Ellis to leverage their similar looks and her acting talent to pose as Janie for two weeks as a "hello girl," where Janie operates a telephone switchboard, while she attends to a family emergency. Ellis is thrilled -- posing as Janie will give her a chance to flex her acting muscles and earn much-needed funds. But the work proves more challenging than she'd anticipated, particularly when she accidentally overhears a conversation threatening Griff Phillips. Griff, her childhood best friend, is now a football star with dreamy blue eyes -- and the one person who tempts Ellis to think twice about fleeing to Hollywood. Intent on saving Griff, will Ellis miss the truth he's always known --- that what she views as her biggest weakness is her greatest strength, and that her uniqueness isn't, in fact, a mistake?

From start to finish, Love Comes Calling is an absolute delight. With her trademark attention to detail and her unique, unparalleled flair for bringing history to life with a Technicolor-clarity, Mitchell brings the roaring, raucous 1920s to vibrant life on the page. And in a stroke of brilliance she allows readers to witness this tumultuous, transformative decade through the eyes of a woman whose restless mind and unfocused energies would today see her diagnosed with ADHD. As a daughter of privilege, Ellis is in the position to embrace the increased freedoms the postwar years brought to women, from college educations to opportunities in the workforce -- only unlike the "hello girls" she meets when posing as Janie, Ellis has the safety net of family wealth. This realization not only allows Ellis to appreciate where she's come from, and the gifts she's been given, but plants within her a growing desire to help other women embrace the new opportunities afforded to them in this great decade of social change, giving her restless energies a heartfelt focus that cannot help but succeed.

Mitchell has a gift for bringing wildly disparate historical periods to life in her novels with pitch-perfect clarity, from the glamour of the Gilded Age in She Walks in Beauty to a Quaker struggling to survive the Revolutionary War in The Messenger. Here she brings the Roaring Twenties to life with all of the vibrancy and energy of the early Hollywood films that Ellis loves. There is more humor within these pages than one familiar with Mitchell's past works might expect to find, but for me that is part of the magic of her work. She manages to capture the essence of a time period, faded to black and white in the history books, and with a few deft strokes of her pen bring it back to life. Although Ellis post-dates the initial incarnation of The Perils of Pauline by a decade, I couldn't help but liken the madcap nature of her adventures to the early Hollywood serial -- the stakes are high, and despite obstacles and occasional failures, there is an infectious enthusiasm to her adventures for which one cannot help but cheer.

Within the framework of Ellis's story, Mitchell tackles the topic of Prohibition, and through the historical lens asks readers to examine the intersection of faith and politics -- as potentially volatile and timely a subject today as it was nearly a century ago. With the passage of Prohibition, the rise of corruption in government and law enforcement exploded, and the ease with which one can access illegal alcohol forces Ellis to examine both her personal beliefs and her role -- if any -- as a believer in a society whose mantra was increasingly "anything goes." More than seeking to enforce an arguably unenforceable law, as Ellis enters the workforce and experiences the best and worst society has to offer, she realizes the critical importance of living her faith, for the potential of her life, well and faithfully lived, to speak louder than any law. As Mitchell states in her Author's Note, "we were designed for the freedom of choice....[and] only God can change hearts" -- a particularly timely reminder for those today who, like Ellis and Griff nearly a hundred years before, are passionately concerned for the state of their culture.

Love Comes Calling is Mitchell's most cinematic novel to date, a love letter to the early pictures that captivated Ellis's imagination and a gorgeously-rendered, engaging reflection of the medium's energy and humor. The Roaring Twenties in all its capacity for change and possibility and excess spring to life within the pages of the novel with a captivating energy. The carefully-meted detail and ephemera through which Mitchell brings to life Ellis and her world makes for an utterly fascinating, absorbing read. And Ellis herself is an absolute gem, her voice not only pitch-perfect for the time in which she lived but an engrossing and compassionate glimpse into the mind of a woman wired to think in a manner and at a pace that, frankly, leaves most of the world in the dust. For anyone who ever wanted to be anyone but who they were, Love Comes Calling is a sweetly-told love letter. This is Mitchell at her most engaging -- fascinating history and captivating characters laced with thought-provoking spiritual truths.

About the book:

A girl with the best of intentions. A heart set on Hollywood. An empty pocketbook.

When a look-alike friend asks Ellis Eton to fill in for her as a telephone operator, Ellis jumps at the chance. For her, the job will provide not only acting practice but the funds to get Ellis a start in the movies. She's tired of always being a disappointment to her traditional Boston family, and though she can't deny the way he makes her head spin, she knows she's not good enough for Griffin Phillips, either. It's simple: avoid Griff's attentions, work, and get paid. But in typical Ellis fashion, her simple plan spirals out of control when she overhears a menacing phone call...with her very own Griff as the target.

With an endearing heroine as her lead, Siri Mitchell takes readers on a madcap tale of love and discovering one's true desires!

******

While reading Love Comes Calling, I couldn't stop thinking about two of my favorite classic Hollywood musicals -- 1947's Good News, the 1920s-set story of a co-ed who falls in love with a football hero a lot like Griff (a DISHY Peter Lawford), and 1960's Bells Are Ringing, the story of a ditzy, well-intentioned operator at a telephone answering service who violates the cardinal rule of her employment -- DON'T get personally involved in their lives, never mind falling in love. Both are absolute GEMS, check them out if you're in the mood for a little Love Comes Calling-inspired film-fest. :)

2013

I'm a little late with sharing some favorites of 2013 this go-around, but I can't let the opportunity pass by to revisit some of my favorite things. :) This post is going to be limited to favorite books, though, since my movie and television blogging was fairly non-existent, particularly for the latter half of the year. Without further ado, here are a few of my favorite reads from 2013.

• A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr (The Staff & the Sword #1)
• The Passing Bells by Phillip Rock (The Greville Family Saga #1)
• Love in a Broken Vessel by Mesu Andrews
• The Red Plague Affair by Lilith Saintcrow (Bannon & Clare #2)
• Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassin #1)
• Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell
• The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau
• The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. Gortner
• Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering (A Drew Farthering Mystery #1)
• A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway (The Baskerville Affair #2)

2013 held its share of challenges (losing my grandmother and my dad's surgery for prostate cancer), resulting in rather sporadic blogging (though I still managed to write a record 80 book reviews!), I want to thank all of you for sticking with me and sharing your prayers and good thoughts, whether in comments, e-mails, or Facebook messages! I've been terribly remiss about sharing updates here, mainly because I tend to view this corner of the blogosphere as my escape from "reality," but I didn't want to get too far into the new year without sharing my thanks. Dad continues to do REALLY well, praise God! :)

Looking forward, I'd REALLY like to reactivate the entertainment portion of my blogging endeavors, but I'm reluctant to make any promises (they are SO time consuming to write...probably because I go on and on and ON), as blogging challenges and I tend to implode spectacularly. *wink* The first test of that resolution is going to be the return of Downton Abbey THIS SUNDAY. I can't promise to have recap posts up by Monday...but if you're patient with me the following week, let's see how this goes, hmmm? 

Reading-wise, as I exceeded my 75-count Goodreads challenge for 2013 (so what if there were about twenty novellas and e-book shorts in that count...they COUNT right??? *wink*), I signed up for 90 this year -- and would love to finally hit that elusive triple-digit mark. We'll see how that goes, hmm? (And if you're on Goodreads and we haven't connected there yet, please send me a friend request!)

A very happy new year to one and all! And thanks again for reading Booktalk & More.

Review: Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell

Unrivaled
By: Siri Mitchell
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0797-6

Review:

When Lucy Kendall returns from touring Europe with her aunt and uncle, she brings back not only trunks full of the latest fashions but samples of gloriously decadent, inventive candies that she hopes will serve as the inspiration for a new creation that could save her family's company -- City Confectionery. But Lucy's dreams of working alongside her father, crafting a new, mouth-watering treat that will capture the tastebuds of customers and surpass the success of Royal Taffy, the runaway bestseller stolen by her father's one-time employee, the ruthless businessman Warren Clarke. But upon her return to St. Louis, Lucy's dreams of a candy-coated future are shattered when she discovers her beloved father, bedridden following a heart attack and the family's financial fortunes on the verge of ruin. Her mother, determined to sell the company, pushes Lucy to make a good marriage before the family's fortune -- and reputation -- is irretrievably tarnished by the confectionery's decline. But Lucy wants more than a marriage -- she wants to be the girl who saves her family with an irresistible candy crafted from the heart and soul of her imagination.

St. Louis is Charlie Clarke's chance to leave the shame of Chicago behind him and reconnect with the father who abandoned his family years before. But his father's position in society as the owner of Standard Manufacturing is wholly outside the realm of Charlie's hardscrabble South Side upbringing, and he struggles to adapt, both resenting and craving his father's sudden interest in his life. When he meets Lucy, the "Queen of Love and Beauty," he's captivated by the girl who for one brief moment made him believe he could be a better man, one worthy of her affections. But Lucy is a Kendall, and when she learns he's the son of the man attempting to force her father out of business, a war of wills ignites between the two that threatens to fragment the tenuous connection between them beyond repair. As the competition between Standard and City grows increasingly heated, can Charlie and Lucy find the strength to resist becoming pawns in a battle that threatens to destroy every sweet thing they hold dear?

I've said it before but it bears repeating -- I adore Siri Mitchell's writing, and though it's taken me a while to finish her latest it was worth the wait as each page was worth savoring (no pun intended given the novel's subject matter!). For her latest tale of a woman struggling for self-actualization, Mitchell turns to 1910 St. Louis and the early days of branding and competition within the sweetest of industries -- candy-making. For an industry whose basis is quite literally in sugar, spice, and everything nice, the actual business side of candy-making proves to be a surprisingly ruthless foil for its output -- one rife with dramatic possibilities and spiritual truths.

Of Mitchell's novels that I've read thus far, Lucy is perhaps the most potentially problematic heroine -- she's incredibly single-minded in her drive to save City Confectionery, and that overwhelming desire coupled with a measure of immaturity and selfishness leads her to commit some rather unsavory actions in the name of family pride. That said, as such Lucy is perhaps one of the most refreshingly honest leads I've encountered yet in inspirational fiction. Raised in church, she is no stranger to the concept of faith, but rather than allowing a relational faith to transform her, she relies on being "essentially" good. Only when she can no longer justify her actions in the name of fairness, when she realizes how she's hurt others in her single-minded pursuit of her goal is she able to realize the need for a vibrant, relational faith in her life. Much like her universally reviled hazelnut chews, the veneer of propriety cannot mask the bitter aftertaste of a personality with whom no one wants to associate themselves -- a crushing realization that forces Lucy to re-examine everything about herself and what she holds true.

Charlie Clark receives equal point-of-view page time to Lucy, at a ratio that surpasses my memory of Mitchell's previous heroes. As a result he is one of Mitchell's most fully realized, appealing, and sympathetic characters. That said he is far from perfect, and like Lucy as in his own way used circumstances beyond his control to dictate his actions, oft-times to the detriment of others. I loved seeing St. Louis society through his eyes, and the unabashed ardor with which he responds to Lucy following their initial meeting was positively swoon-worthy.

The time period and exploration of class differences mark Unrivaled as sure to appeal to fans of Downton Abbey, with a distinctive American twist. :) Mitchell continues to possess an unparalleled ability to evoke history as evidenced here through her carefully-meted use of fact, ephemera, and language to evoke the time in which Lucy and Charlie would have lived. This is a novel rich in historical detail, and thanks to Mitchell's excellent plotting and well-drawn characters, imbued with extraordinary warmth, humor, and unvarnished honesty, results in a positively decadent reading experience. Like the candy at the heart of the Kendall-Clarke feud, Unrivaled is a rich, multi-layered exploration of the cost of pride, the power of forgiveness, and the transformative power of faith, and of a belief that asks only that we come as we are -- not as we think we should be. A deceptively straight-forward romance, like the finest of candies Unrivaled is a gorgeously realized examination of character, honor, and family, beautifully told.

About the book:

Falling in love could be a recipe for disaster...

Lucy Kendall returns from a tour of the Continent, her luggage filled with the latest fashions and a mind fired by inspiration. After tasting Europe's best confections, she's sure she'll come up with a recipe that wills ave her father's struggling candy business and reverse their fortunes. But she soon discovers that their biggest competitor, the cheat who swindled her father out of his prize recipe, has now hired a promotions manager -- a cocky, handsome out-of-towner who gets under Lucy's skin.

Charlie Clarke's new role at Standard Manufacturing is the chance of a lifetime. He can put some rough times behind him and reconnect with the father he's never known. The one thing he never counted on, however, was tenacious Lucy Kendall. She's making his work life miserable...and making herself impossible for him to forget.

***

As a special bonus, here is my vision of Charlie Clarke (only in a turn of the century suit!) -- he's very much cut from the Neal Caffrey/Matt Bomer mold:

cover candy

Bethany House and Revell, two of my favorite publishing houses, recently released information on their January-April 2013 fiction list. I couldn't resist the chance to share with you this sneak peek of some of the books I'm most looking forward to! I'd love to hear your thoughts (this is by no means the full list, just a sample of what has caught my eye!).

Emma Smallwood, determined to help her widowed father regain his spirits when his academy fails, agrees to travel with him to the distant Cornwall coast, to the cliff-top manor of a baronet and his four sons. But after they arrive and begin teaching the younger boys, mysterious things begin to happen and danger mounts. Who does Emma hear playing the pianoforte, only to find the music room empty? Who sneaks into her room at night? Who rips a page from her journal, only to return it with a chilling illustration?

The baronet's older sons, Phillip and Henry, wrestle with problems--and secrets--of their own. They both remember Emma Smallwood from their days at her father's academy. She had been an awkward, studious girl. But now one of them finds himself unexpectedly drawn to her.

When the suspicious acts escalate, can the clever tutor's daughter figure out which brother to blame... and which brother to trust with her heart?

Lucy Kendall always assumed she'd help her father in his candy-making business, creating recipes and aiding him in their shared passion. But after a year traveling in Europe, Lucy returns to 1910 St. Louis to find her father unwell and her mother planning to sell the struggling candy company. Determined to help, Lucy vows to create a candy that will reverse their fortunes.

St. Louis newcomer Charlie Clarke is determined to help his father dominate the nation's candy industry. Compromise is not an option when the prize is a father's approval, and falling in love with a business rival is a recipe for disaster when only one company can win. Will these two star-crossed lovers let a competition that turns less than friendly sour their dreams?

Hosea has been charged by God with a difficult task--marry a prostitute in order to show God's people the nature and depth of his love for Israel. When Hosea goes to Israel to proclaim God's message, the prostitute God tells him to marry turns out to be his childhood friend Gomer. He finds her broken and abused, unwilling to trust Hosea or his God. But when marrying Hosea becomes her only choice, Gomer does what she's good at--she survives. Can Hosea's love for God and God's love for Israel heal Gomer's broken spirit?

With her potent combination of in-depth research and masterful storytelling, Mesu Andrews brings to life a complex and fascinating biblical story of the power of love and forgiveness in the face of utter betrayal.

Recently widowed Analisa Weiss has the feeling her husband was murdered but can't prove it. Alone with her young daughter in 1881 Michigan, she has six months left to finish raising the money needed to pay back the land contract her husband purchased, and the land is difficult to toil by herself. She needs a husband. With unmarried men scarce, her father sends a letter to his brother in the Old Country, asking him to find Analisa a groom.

For nobleman Karl von Reichert, the noose of the hangman's rope is his fate. He's been accused and convicted of a serious crime he didn't commit, and his only escape is to flee to a small German community in Michigan where he'll be safe. He secures a job on Analisa's farm but bumbles through learning about farming and manual labor.

Analisa senses that Karl is harboring a secret about his past, yet she finds herself drawn to him anyway. He's gentle, kind, and romantic--unlike any of the men she's ever known. He begins to restore her faith in the ability to love--but her true groom is still on his way. And time is running out on them all.

******

Aren't these covers amazing?! Here are pre-order links and release dates:

• The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen (January 2013)
• Unrivaled by Siri Mitchell (March 2013)
• Love in a Broken Vessel by Mesu Andrews (March 2013)
• A Noble Groom by Jody Hedlund (April 2013)

The Messenger by Siri Mitchell

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The Messenger Bethany House Publishers (March 1, 2012) by Siri Mitchell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a speaker and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Hannah Sunderland felt content in her embrace of the Quaker faith...until her twin brother ran off and joined the army and ended up captured and in jail. Suddenly Hannah's world turns on end. She longs to bring her brother some measure of comfort in the squalid, frigid prison where he remains. But the Quakers believe they are not to take sides, not to take up arms. Can she sit by and do nothing while he suffers?

Jeremiah Jones has an enormous task before him. Responsibility for a spy ring is now his, and he desperately needs access to the men in prison, whom they are seeking to free. A possible solution is to garner a pass for Hannah. But while she is fine to the eye, she holds only disdain for him--and agreeing would mean disobeying those she loves and abandoning a bedrock of her faith.

With skill and sensitivity, Mitchell tells a story of two unlikely heroes seeking God's voice, finding the courage to act, and discovering the powerful embrace of love.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Messenger, go HERE.

You can read  my review of The Messenger here.

Review: The Messenger by Siri Mitchell

The Messenger

By: Siri Mitchell

Publisher: Bethany House

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0796-9

About the book:

Hannah Sunderland felt content in her embrace of the Quaker faith...until her twin brother joined the Colonial cause and ended up in jail. She longs to bring some measure of comfort to him in the squalid prison, but her faith forbids it. The Friends believe they are not to take sides, not to take up arms. She is not allowed to visit him, even if she were able to secure a pass.

Jeremiah Jones, a Colonial spy, needs access to the jail to help rescue me important to the cause. Upon meeting Hannah, a plan begins to develop. Who would suspect a pious Quaker visiting a loved one?

But Jeremiah is unprepared for Hannah, for her determination to do right, to not lie. How can one be a spy and not lie? Hannah, in turn, is surprised by Jeremiah...for the way he forces her to confront her own beliefs, for the sensitivity and concern he shows her despite the wounds he still carries.

In a time of war, can two unlikely heroes find the courage to act?

Review:

With the city of Philadelphia under British occupation, Hannah Sunderland and her family, devout Quakers, struggle to survive in the midst of a conflict that has seen them disavowed and misused by both sides because of their pacifist beliefs. When a British officer commandeers the family home and news arrives that her twin brother, disowned by his Meeting and family for joining the Colonial army, has been imprisoned, Hannah finds the religious and familial dictates to stay uninvolved in the conflict increasingly untenable. Jeremiah Jones, an embittered ex-soldier who lost an arm in Pontiac's Rebellion fifteen years earlier, is determined to see the British pay for their callous disregard of his service and sacrifice simply by virtue of his being born a colonial. Under the occupation his tavern is a veritable hotbed of potential intelligence from free-drinking British soldiers, and when Jeremiah receives word that Washington wants to organize a prison break the ill-equipped Jeremiah finds himself thrust into the unlikely position of spymaster. Hannah's determination to visit her brother in prison in spite of her family's dictates provides the perfect cover -- but can a woman who refuses to lie, whose religious convictions Jeremiah despises, become a trusted confederate in a daring plot to thwart the British?

I adore Siri Mitchell's writing, but must confess that The Messenger took a few chapters longer than normal before I found myself truly invested in the story. When first introduced to Hannah, I must admit to sharing many of Jeremiah's frustrations with her Quaker beliefs, particularly their refusal to take sides in a conflict, especially when that means turning a blind eye to horrific abuses of power. And therein lies the genius of this novel -- Mitchell is careful to point out that there were those on both sides of this conflict that were imperfect, equally capable of committing heinous acts in the name of their "cause." Through Hannah and Jeremiah's respective struggles to come to terms with their wildly divergent backgrounds and the time in which they lived Mitchell explores the role of faith in a time of war in her trademark compelling fashion. This is historical fiction of the highest order, a novel that brings to brilliant life everything from the excesses of General Howe's occupation to the squalor of the prison housing Hannah's brother. The Messenger is a novel wholly of its time period but also transcending it, stepping out of the realm of its 18th-century trappings to speak to modern readers who live in a politically-charged, 24-hour news cycle and issue a challenge -- why do we believe what we believe, and have we let positions or protests trump the bedrock tenets of the faith to which we claim to adhere?

Mitchell alternates between Hannah and Jeremiah's point-of-view, using first person to immerse readers deep in their fears and struggles as they seek to fight against a system where the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against their success. As is the norm in Mitchell's historical fiction, she doesn't romanticize the past or shy away from the brutal cost of conflict. No matter what time period she chooses to explore, Mitchell's historical fiction shines because it has the ring of authenticity, richly saturated with period detail and customs, populated with characters whose heartbreak and emotions are so raw, fully realized they spring living and breathing from the page, so real you can't help but be impacted by their journey.

For those who favor their historicals with a dash of romance, The Messenger delivers -- though not, perhaps in a typical fashion. Hannah and Jerimiah's relationship develops at a gloriously slow burn, forged out of the fires of unfathomable pressure, all the more memorable because when they're first introduced they are the last people you'd expect to fall in love. But even as Hannah and Jeremiah challenge each other, Mitchell forces the reader to confront prejudices, question beliefs, and to count the cost of acting in faith, particularly when what one may be called to do or say flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Fraught with tension and conflict, Mitchell sheds light in one of our country's darkest, most tumultuous hours, challenging readers to examine why we believe what we believe even as we become invested in Hannah and Jeremiah's story. The Messenger is a rich, meaty, thought-provoking, at times unsettling read, a stellar example of Mitchell at her finest, a story that you'll ponder long after you finish the final pages. Very well done indeed.

A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing A Heart Most Worthy Bethany House (March 1, 2011) by Siri Mitchell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

Her ninth novel, A Heart Most Worthy, follows prior Bethany House releases: A Constant Heart (October 2008), Love's Pursuit (June 2009), and She Walks in Beauty (Apr 2010). She Walks in Beauty won the inaugural INSPY Award for Historical Fiction in Dec 2010. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. Love's Pursuit was a finalist for the ACFW Carol Award.

Publishers Weekly proclaimed, "Mitchell delivers the historical goods."

ABOUT THE BOOK

The elegance of Madame Forza's gown shop is a far cry from the downtrodden North End of Boston. Yet each day Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana enter the world of the upper class, working on finery for the elite in society. The three beauties each long to break free of their obligations and embrace the American dream--and their chance for love. But the ways of the heart are difficult to discern at times.
Julietta is drawn to the swarthy, mysterious Angelo. Annamaria has a star-crossed encounter with the grocer's son, a man from the entirely wrong family. And through no intent of her own, Luciana catches the eye of Billy Quinn, the son of Madame Forza's most important client.

Their destinies intertwined, each harboring a secret from their families and each other, will they be found worthy of the love they seek?

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Heart Most Worthy, go HERE.

Review: She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell

*Winner of the 2010 INSPY Award for Historical Fiction*

She Walks in Beauty
By: Siri Mitchell
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0433-3

About the book:

During New York City’s Gilded Age…

The game is played amid banquets and balls.

The prize is a lifetime of wealth and privilege.

The rules will test friendships and the desires of a young woman’s heart.

Clara Carter is the social season’s brightest star…

but at what cost?

For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor. Debuting means plenty of work--there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling.

Yet Clara soon wonders if this is the life she really wants. Especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries. When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her marriage at stake--the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.

Review:

Clara Carter is a quiet, bookish young woman, who, unlike her peers, prefers studies to dreams of a successful social debut. When her reserved doctor father and society-obsessed aunt decide she must debut a year early, Clara is thrust into preparations for a life she’s been ill-prepared for and isn’t sure she wants – a life where appearance is everything, and reputations rise or fall on the interpretation of a look or the flick of a fan. Charged with saving the family honor by marrying the De Vries heir, Franklin, Clara submits to a strict regimen of social training, diet, and corset-wearing, all with the goal of remaking herself into the type of woman the De Vries scion will find irresistible. But the closer Clara comes to obtaining her family’s goal, the more she questions the cost of a life and debut based on superficiality and social artifice. As Clara’s eyes are opened to the cost of celebrity and social success, she faces a difficult choice – conform to society’s expectations and sacrifice her true self and any hope of happiness, or risk her social and economic well-being for a chance to spread her wings and fly.

She Walks in Beauty is an absolute jewel of a novel, from its stunning cover to the rich historical detail found within its pages. Siri Mitchell brings the fabled Gilded Age of New York City to vivid life, from the glittering ballrooms and opera halls to the filthy slums just blocks away that funded much of the opulent lifestyle enjoyed by many members of society’s upper echelon. With a sure hand Mitchell strips away the veneer of opulence that masks the wealth of the time period and reveals the heart-rending cost exacted from young debutantes seeking social prominence. Securing one’s future meant remaking oneself into the image of society’s ideal model of perfection, and Mitchell’s story drives home a stark reminder that not much has changed since women like Clara graced New York City’s streets. Taught how to walk, talk, eat, and dress, Clara and her peers were given an ideal to aspire to and pressured to conform, no matter what the physical or spiritual costs, in order to win the prize of an eligible match.

Clara is one of the most memorable heroines I’ve encountered in my reading this year. She begins her journey with sparks of independence, quickly overshadowed by her desire and willingness to serve her family’s interests. But the more she learns, the more she chafes at society’s glittering artificiality and wants to matter and be loved for herself – and begins to wonder why she can’t be accepted as she is, instead of being re-molded into an ideal that not only threatens her future happiness but her physical well-being. Clara’s personal and social awakening is at times heart-rending, handled with a deft grace that feels absolutely authentic to the time period while communicating timeless spiritual truths in a subtle, powerful fashion. And the romance will take your breath away – Clara’s true love is a hero in every sense of the word, and their blossoming relationship is a joy to watch unfold.

Mitchell has a gift for bringing history to vibrant life within the pages of her novels, and she fearlessly proves her willingness to explore both the beauty and the horror of history with She Walks in Beauty. The Gilded Age isn’t romanticized – Mitchell presents a fully rounded portrait of Clara’s world, and the resulting story is raw and real and wonderful, at times uncomfortable, always emotional, and unquestioningly thought-provoking. For all the darkness in Clara’s world, Mitchell saturates the story with hope, and the light shines all the brighter for the stark contrast. Thought-provoking, challenging, and rich with period detail and a heart-warming romance, She Walks in Beauty is a story that will shake you to the core and leave you pondering Clara’s journey and its present-day implications long after you finish the final pages. I cannot wait for Mitchell’s next book!

Coming Soon: Review of She Walks in Beauty

Just a little teaser about what you can expect to see on the blog after the INSPY Award winners are announced December 13th - check back that week to read my review of She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell. To whet your appetite, here's a bit about the novel:

During New York City’s Gilded Age…

The game is played amid banquets and balls.

The prize is a lifetime of wealth and privilege.

The rules will test friendships and the desires of a young woman’s heart.

Clara Carter is the social season’s brightest star…

but at what cost?

For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor. Debuting means plenty of work--there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling.

Yet Clara soon wonders if this is the life she really wants. Especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries. When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her marriage at stake--the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.

The INSPY Awards

Many of you may have seen news of a new book award floating around the blogosphere the past few weeks, but in case you've missed it, I want to take a moment to tell you about the INSPY Awards.

About the INSPYs:

Recognizing the need for a new kind of book award, the INSPYs were created by bloggers to discover and highlight the very best in literature that grapples with expressions of the Christian faith.

I am thrilled and honored to be a judge in the historical fiction category. These are the books on the historical fiction shortlist:

The Frontiersman’s Daughter by Laura Frantz, Revell Books, 1st August, 2009

The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen, Bethany House, 1st January, 2010

The Fiddler’s Gun by AS Peterson, Rabbit Room Press, 1st December, 2009

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell, Bethany House, 1st April, 2010

Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers, Tyndale House, 1st March, 2010

Some good reads, no? You can read the rest of the short listed books in the other categories here. The INSPY winners will be announced December 13th...so I'd better get reading. :)

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing


She Walks in Beauty Bethany House (April 2010)by


Siri Mitchell


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

ABOUT THE BOOK

For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor.

Debuting means plenty of work--there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling.

Yet Clara soon wonders if this is the life she really wants. Especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries.

When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her marriage at stake--the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.

If you would like to read the first chapter of She Walks in Beauty, go HERE.

Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Love's Pursuit
Bethany House (June 1, 2009)
by
Siri Mitchell


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

A Constant Heart was her sixth novel. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. She has been called one of the clearest, most original voices in the CBA.


ABOUT THE BOOK

In the small Puritan community of Stoneybrooke, Massachusetts, Susannah Phillips stands out both for her character and beauty. She wants only a simple life but soon finds herself pursued by the town's wealthiest bachelor and by a roguish military captain sent to protect them. One is not what he seems and one is more than he seems.

In trying to discover true love's path, Susannah is helped by the most unlikely of allies, a wounded woman who lives invisible and ignored in their town. As the depth, passion, and sacrifice of love is revealed to Susannah, she begins to question the rules and regulations of her childhood faith. In a community where grace is unknown, what price will she pay for embracing love?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Love's Pursuit, go HERE