Captivating storytelling of a passionate love between the Hawthornes

The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck
NAL Hardcover May 5 2015
eGalley provided via NetGalley in exchange for this review
Burton Book Review Rating:

Beset by crippling headaches from a young age and endowed with a talent for drawing, Sophia is discouraged by her well-known New England family from pursuing a woman's traditional roles. But from their first meeting, Nathaniel and Sophia begin an intense romantic relationship that despite many setbacks leads to their marriage. Together, they will cross continents, raise children, and experience all the beauty and tragedy of an exceptional partnership. Sophia's vivid journals and her masterful paintings kindle a fire in Nathaniel, inspiring his writing. But their children's needs and the death of loved ones steal Sophia's energy and time for her art, fueling in her a perennial tug-of-war between fulfilling her domestic duties and pursuing her own desires.

Spanning the years from the 1830s to the Civil War, and moving from Massachusetts to England, Portugal, and Italy, The House of Hawthorne explores the tension within a famous marriage of two soulful, strong-willed people, each devoted to the other but also driven by a powerful need to explore the far reaches of their creative impulses. It is the story of a forgotten woman in history, who inspired one of the greatest writers of American literature...

A vivid re-imagining of nineteenth century transcendentalists and feminism, The House of Hawthorne introduces us to famous figures of the era while boldly portraying Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne as none have attempted before.

Growing up in Massachusetts when emancipation issues begin to affect society, young Sophia and her sister Mary travel to Cuba in hopes of a healthier existence. While there, they are exposed to slavery and its cruelty firsthand, tormenting her fragile sensibilities further. Her soul is a creative one and it finds an outlet through painting, but this also leads to excruciating headaches. She eventually paints for a rising literary star Nathaniel Hawthorne and after a long courtship they are finally married - each in their thirties.

Author Erika Robuck slowly builds up this romance story, weaving us under the Hawthorne spell. We feel the artistic tension while the couple tries to cope with the daily toil of chores (as opposed to simply doing "what we were born to do") which are too mundane and oppressive for the likes of them. Despite the charities of fellow literary greats such as the Browning and Emerson families, financial struggles plague the couple forcing Nathaniel to take a real job in government through his previous classmate Franklin Pierce.

The novel portrays a palpable passion between Nathaniel and Sophia throughout their marriage, where Sophia is his "dove" and she is willing to give up seemingly everything for his happiness. Their family grows as the years go on, with grief and sorrow permeating the pages even as we feel the intense connection between the two.

Robuck's newest novel brings to life the courage and values of the Hawthornes, displaying both the gloomy and intense sides of creativity as well as the blissful euphoric moments. This exquisite blend of history and emotion is gift wrapped with the prose of Robuck's hypnotic writing style making The House of Hawthorne an easily recommended historical novel.


I will say that that eGalley formatting of this novel was very distracting. Major distractions were the missing quotations where appropriate and the page breaks (where I would assume there was one) were very non-existent. I wrote the review with the hopes that the finished copy corrects these issues.

Erika Robuck is a favorite novelist of mine, and you can find all my reviews of her published work here at the Burton Book Review.

See below on how to enter for the giveaway copy of FALLEN BEAUTY (U.S. entries only).


Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck
Penguin NAL March 4, 2014
384 pages paperback
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for this honest review
Burton Book Review Rating: 4 stars

“Without sin, can we know beauty? Can we fully appreciate the summer without the winter? No, I am glad to suffer so I can feel the fullness of our time in the light.”

Upstate New York, 1928. Laura Kelley and the man she loves sneak away from their judgmental town to attend a performance of the scandalous Ziegfeld Follies. But the dark consequences of their night of daring and delight reach far into the future.…

That same evening, Bohemian poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and her indulgent husband hold a wild party in their remote mountain estate, hoping to inspire her muse. Millay declares her wish for a new lover who will take her to unparalleled heights of passion and poetry, but for the first time, the man who responds will not bend completely to her will.…

Two years later, Laura, an unwed seamstress struggling to support her daughter, and Millay, a woman fighting the passage of time, work together secretly to create costumes for Millay’s next grand tour. As their complex, often uneasy friendship develops amid growing local condemnation, each woman is forced to confront what it means to be a fallen woman…and to decide for herself what price she is willing to pay to live a full life.

Every once in a blessed while we come across an author who has such a writing voice that we eagerly anticipate their next work when it is years away. Erika Robuck is such an author for me as I discovered her in 2009/2010. Rising swiftly among the ranks of the most accomplished historical fiction authors, Erika diligently researches her next subject and she takes her readers along on a wonderful adventure as she shares her talented way of storytelling with us.

The story of eccentric Edna St. Millay was a new one to me, and her shocking lifestyle threatened to thwart my wish to enjoy this novel. Thankfully the author created a counterpart to the tormented poetess with her fictional character Laura, who embodied the opposite that the poet was. Laura's life spins out of control however, causing her to become ostracized and the fallen beauty the title suggests. The partnership between Laura and Millay is tenuous, secret and yet something so poisonous it is a wicked thrill to watch how the author imagines the intermingling of mere mortals with someone so evocative and far out of society's realm that the poet Millay was.

Robuck's writing evokes the melancholy state of Zelda

Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck
Biographical historical fiction
Penguin NAL, May 7, 2013
Review copy provided by the publisher, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: Very good, and I recommend it! 4 stars

From the author of Hemingway’s Girl comes a richly imagined tale of Zelda Fitzgerald’s love, longing, and struggle against ever-threatening insanity.

From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, but those who really knew them saw their inner turmoil.

Committed to a Baltimore psychiatric hospital in 1932, Zelda vacillates between lucidity and madness as she fights to forge an identity independent of her famous husband. She discovers a sympathetic ear in her nurse Anna Howard, who finds herself drawn into the Fitzgerald’s tumultuous lives and wonders which of them is the true genius. But in taking greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she ever intended.

In this thoroughly researched, deeply moving novel, Erika Robuck explores the boundaries of female friendship, the complexity of marital devotion, and the sources of both art and madness.

With all eyes on Gatsby-themed books and movies this year, Erika Robuck's tale of Zelda's manic depression is not the glitzy glamorous high-rolling tale of the 'gin-soaked' Jazz Age that some may expect. The novel is actually narrated by Zelda's fictionalized nurse, who gets in over her head during her care of Zelda and is sucked into the abyss that the Fitzgerald family creates for each other. It is a sad and poignant story and definitely not a sweet love story of Zelda and F. Scott - they were depicted as being very abusive and cruel and it was heartbreaking to read about their vindictiveness towards each other as Zelda sank deeper and deeper into a psychotic state.

This is not the first time the author has depicted distressing circumstances: Receive Me Falling touches on slavery, and Hemingway's Girl features a tattered and battered Hemingway with another example of a volatile relationship. Robuck can adeptly write these scenes as her voice is always clear and true though I am quite sure that I did not expect Call Me Zelda to be quite so melodramatically depressing, for lack of a better description.

Nurse Anna Howard's story is a major piece of the Fitzgerald puzzle as she is attempting to come to grips with the after-effects of the war and the fact her husband has disappeared while on duty. Anna becomes too close to the Fitzgeralds and subsequently blurs the lines between patient and nurse, but this flawed nature is what endears the reader to Anna, and being told in first person helps as well. The relationship between Zelda and Anna is the biggest thread to this story which plays itself out even when Zelda is not in the picture.

The nuances of the thirties are here in the telling through Zelda's letters and depictions of the past, but the story is very character-driven as they each attempt to manage their relationships. Zelda and Scott, Zelda and Scott and their daughter, Anna and the Fitzgeralds, Anna and her parents, Anna and her brother the priest, Anna and her missing husband, Anna and the missing husband's best friend, Anna and her driver, etc. It is a melancholy look at marriage between soul mates, at love that is lost to the ravages of time, of how misunderstandings irrevocably lead to disaster, of resilience of a little girl amidst it all, and how despite the tragedies and the grief, life goes on whether there is redemption or not.

While not a concentrated look at Zelda alone, using the narrator of Anna really helps the reader to imagine Zelda as a woman, a struggling wife and mother, and not just a flapper at a party. I love Erika Robuck's emotive writing especially because she always seems to be able to get at the heart of the characters just as she did with them here. I've always felt that Robuck's voice is eloquent and precise as she emits both the beauty and the tragedy of the figures she is portraying. The book chronicles the failures during their doomed quest to find the former life of the laughter and the young love in such a way that you will never be able to think of the Fitzgeralds in quite the same way again.

This week on the blog I reviewed:

The Bastard King by Jean Plaidy (Absolutely fantastic novel as expected, portrays William the Conqueror). I recommend this title for those readers who have enjoyed the recent release of Patricia Bracewell's Shadow on The Crown. I loved it so much I blazed through it leaving my fellow group readers behind in the dust. It had been way too long that I've neglected Jean Plaidy, and I must I must I must find time to read more of her work.


What A Mother Knows by Leslie Lehr

This was a nice change of pace for me; a blend of mystery & suspense as a mom finally wakes up from a coma and finds her world had changed around her. Her husband is distant, people are hiding things from her yet they are quick to judge her. Her daughter has gone missing but it seems no one else cares about that fact. I had chosen this as a sort of tribute to Mother's Day as it displays the bond between mother and child quite well.


Mailbox Monday is a meme originally from Marcia's Mailbox and is being hosted by Abi @ 4 the LOVE of BOOKS for this month. The Story Siren also hosts IMM, so we can find some cool YA titles there as well.

IN THE MAIL

May 7, 2013

Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck.. I am the biggest fan girl of Erika, I totally drooled over Hemingway's Girl and I pulled a big I-told-you-so moment when I reviewed Receive Me Falling over three years ago. Well, I still told you so. Looking forward to this one. Read my review of Receive Me Falling and then go buy it for kindle at $2.99.

From the author of Hemingway’s Girl comes a richly imagined tale of Zelda Fitzgerald’s love, longing, and struggle against ever-threatening insanity.

From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, but those who really knew them saw their inner turmoil.

Committed to a Baltimore psychiatric hospital in 1932, Zelda vacillates between lucidity and madness as she fights to forge an identity independent of her famous husband. She discovers a sympathetic ear in her nurse Anna Howard, who finds herself drawn into the Fitzgerald’s tumultuous lives and wonders which of them is the true genius. But in taking greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she ever intended.

In this thoroughly researched, deeply moving novel, Erika Robuck explores the boundaries of female friendship, the complexity of marital devotion, and the sources of both art and madness.

A Certain Summer by Patricia Beard

"Nothing ever changes at Wauregan.” That mystique is the tradition of the idyllic island colony off the shore of Long Island, the comforting tradition that its summer dwellers have lived by for over half a century. But in the summer of 1948, after a world war has claimed countless men—even those who came home—the time has come to deal with history’s indelible scars.
Helen Wadsworth’s husband, Arthur, was declared missing in action during an OSS operation in France, but the official explanation was mysteriously nebulous. Now raising a teenage son who longs to know the truth about his father, Helen turns to Frank Hartman—her husband’s best friend and his partner on the mission when he disappeared. Frank, however, seems more intent on filling the void in Helen’s life that Arthur’s absence has left. As Helen’s affection for Frank grows, so does her guilt, especially when Peter Gavin, a handsome Marine who was brutally tortured by the Japanese and has returned with a faithful war dog, unexpectedly stirs new desires. With her heart pulled in multiple directions, Helen doesn’t know whom to trust—especially when a shocking discovery forever alters her perception of both love and war. 

On his way to interview for a position at a church in the Piney Woods of Texas, Crockett Archer can scarcely believe it when he's forced off the train by a retired outlaw and presented to the man's daughter as the minister she requested for her birthday. Worried this unfortunate detour will ruin his chances of finally serving a congregation of his own, Crockett is determined to escape. But when he finally gets away, he's haunted by the memory of the young woman he left behind--a woman whose dreams now hinge on him.

 For months, Joanna Robbins prayed for a preacher. A man to breathe life back into the abandoned church at the heart of her community. A man to assist her in fulfilling a promise to her dying mother. A man to help her discover answers to the questions that have been on her heart for so long. But just when it seems God has answered her prayers, it turns out the person is there against his will and has dreams of his own calling him elsewhere. Is there any way she can convince Crockett to stay in her little backwoods community? And does the attraction between them have any chance of blossoming when Joanna's outlaw father is dead set against his daughter courting a preacher?

Featured eBook Download

Desired: The Untold Story of Samson and Delilah by Ginger Garrett

Meet the legendary Samson as you've never known him before … through the eyes of the three women who loved him.

Before Samson was an Old Testament legend, he was a prodigal son, an inexperienced suitor, a vengeful husband, and a lost soul driven by his own weakness. This is his story as told by three strong women who loved him—the nagging, manipulative mother who pushed him toward greatness, the hapless Philistine bride whose betrayal propelled him into notoriety, and the emotionally damaged seductress—the famous Delilah—who engineered his downfall and propelled him to his destiny. Desired celebrates the God of Israel's to work powerfully in the midst of hopes, fears, desires, and sorrows.

The What Are You Reading meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read.

Finished:
One of these I recommend, the other I don't.:

This week I finished Death and the Courtesan by Pamela Christie and The Bastard King by Jean Plaidy. Unfortunately I had read The Bastard King first and became enthralled/accustomed to Plaidy's fabulous classy prose, and so jumping into a sexually charged lighthearted silly mystery within Death and the Courtesan was not such a fantastic idea. Slightly arduous and I was so pleased that it was short in length. The review will have to hold till August however for the HNR magazine.

Currently Reading:
That meant it was time to move on to something a bit more enlightening/rewarding:
American Phoenix: John Quincy and Louisa Adams, the War of 1812, and the Exile That Saved American Independence by Jane Hampton Cook
This is a very intriguing chunky non-fiction book featuring John Quincy and Louisa Adams. I have been meaning to pry myself away from British history and learn more about American history, and this is perfect for that. Featuring the War of 1812 and the Adams' 'political exile' to Europe (which was news to me), the author is using the couple's extensive diary collection to bring these two historical figures to life, and I am enjoying the writing style very much.

The next bible online study plan is starting tomorrow - it is the 89 Day Plan (weekends off for catch up if needed) which will focus on Major People. Sign up here to read along with the group, it is open to everyone.

Up Next
Quite a few titles in the pile, including Call Me Zelda, Stealing the Preacher, Firebird by Kearsley, Godiva by Galland, Wildish by Parry. It would be nice if I could get all these done before the July Group Read of Katherine by Anya Seton. Wishful thinking, I know. I have so many pressures in real life right now, blogging about books is kinda like not exactly high on the priorities list but as usual it does keep me sane as a hobby in its own annoying sort of way.

Another year, and another year of many awesome reads! There were a lot of fantastic books that I read this year, from the Christian historical theme to the various historical fiction ones that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to readers of the genre. If you are looking for Christmas gift ideas for historical fiction fans, here are some great reads! These are my most favorite of the year, their titles are linked to my reviews. See anything interesting?


WOW. I never thought I would so fall in love with a man, and Hemingway at that. So emotive and evocative this novel was, and the supporting characters are totally unforgettable. The setting and style of writing is awesome, and I also loved the author's previous work which I reviewed here. I just don't think she can write a bad book, and I am so happy for her well deserved success. I need to get a book by Hemingway on my mountain of to be read books.

Heart stopping drama and romance set against Hemingway's high rolling world

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck
NAL Trade, September 4 2012
Paperback 352 pages
Historical fiction/romance
Review copy from the author, thank you!
Burton Book Review Rating: FIVE STARS

“She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan tree at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she’d thought it romantic. She hadn’t understood his warning.”

In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father’s death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match...and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the WWI veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway. When Mariella is hired as a maid by Hemingway’s second wife, Pauline, she enters a rarified world of lavish, celebrity-filled dinner parties and elaborate off-island excursions. As she becomes caught up in the tensions and excesses of the Hemingway household, the attentions of the larger-than-life writer become a dangerous temptation...even as straightforward Gavin Murray draws her back to what matters most. Will she cross an invisible line with the volatile Hemingway, or find a way to claim her own dreams? As a massive hurricane bears down on Key West, Mariella faces some harsh truths...and the possibility of losing everything she loves.

Erika Robuck's first novel, Receive Me Falling, was indicative of great things to come. I mooned happiness in my review of that one, and I shall do the same here. I love how Erika can transport the reader to another place in time with just a few words, and words that she skillfully weaves together to give us the impression of being there with her characters.

And her characters are always so well put together - flaws and all - including a certain Mr. Hemingway, his family, and the fictional Mariella Bennet. This is an emotive mix of love, loyalty, self-renewal, betrayal, jealousy all set against the Depression era giving us such an intense backdrop for this Key West novel.

Ernest Hemingway is living with wife number two in Key West when Mariella becomes the hired help. Ernest is called 'Papa' and he calls her 'daughter'. The two have an amazingly tantalizing relationship which you never know when they are going to take it to the next level. When she meets the war vet Gavin Murray, things turn into a sort of love triangle times two, and the almost twenty year old Mariella is forced to grow up or jeopardize all hopes of getting her family out of squalor.

The scenery of Florida and the era of the sadness of the surviving war veterans of the Great War were depcited so very well. The storyline was imaginative yet with so many moving parts of Gavin's life, Mariella's familial struggles, Hemingway's struggles with everything.. the disdain of the locals.. the entire thing was so put together in a perfect little package that I can happily say I told you so when I gushed in my review of her last book.

Hemingway's Girl is so rich with its atmospheric tone it will pull you in with the monstrous waves of the Hurricane that swept through Florida, and you will want to make sure you set aside enough time at night to get to the end because you will NOT want to put it down during the last seventy pages or so. And have a box of tissues, because I was sobbing. I adored these characters, all of them, that I cared deeply about them before the book was done. Perfectly fantastic storytelling in this treasure of a novel. Erika Robuck should make Hemingway proud by using him in this way. (wink wink - you'll understand that line when you read it).

Receive Me Falling by Erika Robuck
Historical Fiction
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Elysian Fields Press (January 5, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0982229804
Review copy from author, via Bostick Communications
The Burton Review Rating:

"Every slave story is a ghost story. The haunting words of an historian and former cane worker on the Caribbean island of Nevis launch Meghan Owen on her quest to unlock the secrets of an abandoned sugar plantation and its ghosts. After Meg's parents die in a car accident on the night of her engagement party, she calls off her wedding, takes leave of her job in Annapolis, and travels to land she's inherited on Nevis.

A series of discoveries in an old plantation house on the property, Eden, set her on a search for the truth surrounding the shameful past of her ancestors, their slaves, and the tragedy that resulted in the fall of the plantation and its inhabitants. Through a crushing phone call with her lawyer, Meg learns that her father's estate was built on stolen money, and is being sued by multiple sources. She is faced with having to sell the land and plantation home, and deal with the betrayal she feels from her deceased father.

In alternating chapters, the historical drama of the Dall family unfolds. Upon the arrival of British abolitionists to the hedonistic 19th century plantation society, Catherine Dall is forced to choose between her lifestyle and the scandal of deserting her family. An angry confrontation with Catherine's slave, Leah, results in the girl's death, but was it murder or suicide?

Hidden texts, scandalous diaries, antique paintings, and confessional letters help Meghan Owen uncover the secrets of Eden and put the ghosts to rest."

This novel has a beautiful cover and the whole of it had intrigued me from the first moment I saw it. I then saw mixed reviews so I kept putting the reading of it off. There were reviewers that complained of the typos or small errors, but that happens when a self-published book goes to print. On the outside, this is the best looking self-published book I've seen. Yes, there are a few punctuation type errors on the inside, a couple spelling errors, but after reading many uncorrected advance reader's copies, these don't distract me very much any longer. If you get a sense of deja-vu, it's probably because you've seen this book in the blogosphere closer to its publication date last year. Now I'm doing catch up, and I am so glad I picked this one up to get lost in. And get lost in it I did; I didn't want it to end! With each turning page, I saw the ending coming closer, and as much as I wanted to know what would happen to these fantastic characters, I didn't want it to stop.

This is the fascinating story of Nevis, a small island in the Caribbeans that sounds amazingly beautiful. When Meghan visits it, she finds the old plantation that her father had owned in a shambles, but it exudes an aching sense of mystery that intrigues her. The walls are covered with vines and foliage, and they even reveal a fantastic mural on one wall which is one thread of the mystery within the plot. The estate is a place that was once called Eden, and her father had neglected to mention to her that this place had existed and belonged to their family. When Meghan's parents die, she goes to the island to appraise the property and take a few weeks off from real life at the same time. Meghan is a rich kid, used to living the high life, and likes to drink. But the reader still feels a bit sorry for her after the sudden loss of her parents. The romantic angle comes into play when Meghan postpones her marriage because of her parent's tragic death, and she left the fiance in the states while she went off to explore Nevis. It left the reader wondering what would ultimately happen in the relationship, but luckily the fiance doesn't give up on her.

And then we are introduced to the other side of the story, and that is the story of the Dall family, who were the last owners of the plantation of Eden, many generations before Meghan's visit. There is a hint that Meghan is somehow related to the Dalls and the plantation, but this does stay under wraps until towards the end of the book and it does not turn out as obvious as one would assume, and still ends a bit murky in that respect. The Dall family consists of a father and daughter running the sugar cane plantation, in the midst of slave uprisings and the British abolishing slavery. The novel flashes in between the two time periods which builds more suspense rather than irritates, and I was intrigued by the young Catherine Dall and her empathy for the slaves on her sugar plantation. There are ominous undertones of mystery when it is Catherine's turn in the story, as there are some men around Catherine who make you cringe when they appear. They oooze with the you-are-evil-factor.

The author did very well with the supporting characters, as there were plenty to read about in this story from both time periods. The modern-day Meghan met some interesting locals in Nevis, and the historical part of the novel included fictional but highly believable characters such as Albert and James Stilwell, who supported and led the way of the movement of abolition in the novel. Along with the mystery factor, there are also ghostly tendencies but I would hesitate to say it is of a paranormal leaning, but this factor was present along with folklore and I think the author did a good job of not overdoing it with this characteristic of the novel.

I had to do some research on my own to learn the background of Nevis, and of the slavery issues in the early 1800's, because the novel didn't tackle it fast enough for my impatient self. Once I did that little bit of outside googling, I felt better acquainted with the struggles that the farmers and plantation owners were facing at that time in history. The slavery issue was one of the main threads of the story and I commend the author for reminding us what it was like for the slaves during those times. I was intrigued and held in suspense for the majority of the novel and I really enjoyed the experience. Those readers who have read Katherine Howe's "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane" which came out just after this novel, will recognize the similarity of the structure of the book; if you enjoyed that read, you will enjoy this historical read as well. I believe this novel is a fascinating and imaginative piece of work, and I look forward to her next novel which uses another beautiful setting of Key West. Erika also blogs at http://erikarobuck.wordpress.com/