Tag: Historical Fiction

The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 5 Comments
The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein
Publisher: SixOneSeven Books
Publication Date: May 2012
Category: Historical Fiction
Source: I won a signed copy from Audra @ Unabridged Chick, thanks!
Description:

The year is 1960 and the place is the Bronx. All twelve-year-old Ricky Davis wants to do is play stickball with his friends and flirt with the building super’s daughter. But when his father crosses gangster Nathan Glucksman and goes into hiding, Ricky has to take over his father’s bookie business and figure out a way to pay back his debt—before the gangsters make good on their threats. Meanwhile, Ricky’s mother, Pearl, a fading beauty of failed dreams, plots to raise the money by embezzling funds from one of her boss’s clients: Elizabeth Taylor. Even Ricky’s nearly blind grandmother comes up with a less-than-ethical scheme to help.
Fast-paced, engrossing and full of heart, The Bookie’s Son paints the picture of a family forced to decide just how much they’re willing to sacrifice for each other—and at what cost.

My Thoughts:

I enjoy a good coming of age story and this one was better than good. The characters are fantastic and the story is completely believable. In fact I had to keep reminding myself that this is not a memoir. I’ll be honest, I checked the flap more than once to just to be sure. 
The Bookie’s Son is a moving combination of levity and drama that I couldn’t put down. I only wish the book had been longer.
The description of this book doesn’t do it justice. Sadly, if I hadn’t won this copy I probably wouldn’t have picked it up on my own. (Thanks again Audra!) I’ve discovered an author and a publishing company to keep my eyes on. 

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

~ Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader ~ 30 Comments

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
Publisher: Originally published by Hutchinson
Publication Date: September 1993 (UK)
Categories: Historical, Literary Fiction
Source: I bought this movie tie-in version at a book sale at my local library

Description:
Published to international critical and popular acclaim, this intensely romantic yet stunningly realistic novel spans three generations and the unimaginable gulf between the First World War and the present. As the young Englishman Stephen Wraysford passes through a tempestuous love affair with Isabelle Azaire in France and enters the dark, surreal world beneath the trenches of No Man’s Land, Sebastian Faulks creates a world of fiction that is as tragic as A Farewell to Arms and as sensuous as The English Patient. Crafted from the ruins of war and the indestructibility of love, Birdsong is a novel that will be read and marveled at for years to come.

My Thoughts:
When I finished this book I wanted to go right back to the beginning and start reading it all over again. I don’t think there’s anything better than an epic, sweeping war story. This one? The best of the best.

The romance is beautiful and the battle scenes made my heart hurt. While reading about men crawling in tunnels beneath the earth during WWI I was terrified. Seriously. I don’t ever remember being so uncomfortable while reading something. I felt trapped and claustrophobic. Those feelings were worth it. 

The only sections of the book that I wasn’t in love with were the bits about the granddaughter of the main character. Those scenes take place in the 1970’s. They were good but I was always itching to get back to the First World War. 

Birdsong came out in 1993 and I somehow missed it until now. That is nearly tragic! If you haven’t read this yet do yourself a giant favor and do so.