Songs of Willow Frost - Jamie Ford

I loved Jamie Ford’s debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and so was very much looking forward to reading his new novel, and I found it another very special story, with a fascinating setting and period, and a very engaging pair of main characters in William Eng and Liu Song, or Willow Frost.  They both have a lot to overcome in their lives, are subject to poverty and prejudices, and suffer many losses.

It’s 1934, in Seattle, when we meet twelve-year-old William at Sacred Heart Orphanage, run by nuns for orphans or children who have been left there temporarily, some parents do return eventually, others do not. William is American, of Chinese descent. He has a couple of good friends there, Charlotte, and Sunny. It is Charlotte, a blind girl, with whom he shares the closest friendship, and they plot together to leave the home one day; after a previous trip to the city when William saw a movie featuring Willow Frost, he believes she is actually his mother, and determines to find her.

The story takes us back to 1921 and introduces us to Liu Song, a young woman whose mother is very ill and weak, and her mother’s unkind second husband, known as Uncle Leo. Liu Song’s own late father, and her mother, were once actors, loving to perform, and she realises she wants to follow in their footsteps. But there are so many barriers, such cruelty, she suffers sadness and pain in her life. We learn of what she has been through, so that when new happiness seems to be possible, when she meets a kind man, she is scared to believe in it: 'She hesitated to hope and dream, unsure if she could take another loss - even a rejection seemed far beyond her capacity to endure.'

For both William and Liu Song, there are highs and lows as they struggle through their lives. Being able to perform brings some happiness to Liu Song but she feels so alone much of the time. There are occasional happy moments at the orphanage, none more exciting and magical for William and the other children than when they are told that a bookmobile is visiting:

'William's excitement grew as the line shortened and smiling, delighted children began wandering off, books in hand, finding places to sit and read. William had been to the public library only once before, on a field trip, and even though he wasn't allowed to check out anything, he never forgot how it felt to wander in and see books on shelves as high as the ceiling. The library is like a candy store where everything is free.'

Songs of Willow Frost offers a moving and vivid portrayal of 1920s and 1930s Seattle, the effects of the Great Depression are to be seen as characters pass through the streets and see those who are destitute. The growing popularity of cinema as entertainment and escape is also brought to life. 

William is a courageous boy, determined to believe his mother wants him back. Willow strives to do the best she can for her son and to protect them both from those who would interfere or separate them. I found myself hoping for a better future for both William and Willow, I admired them and felt they both had an instinct for survival despite the often heavy odds being against them. I believed in both of them, and felt moved by their experiences, wanting them to break through the sad times and troubles, and find happier days ahead. 

As in his debut novel, Jamie Ford uses the dual time-frame narrative again here really well,  I liked having several chapters focussing on William's life first, and then several that took us back to discover what had happened to Liu Song, and then forwards again. The author draws on his own childhood in Seattle's Chinatown to create an authentic and evocative background canvas of the city in which the story takes place. I was engrossed in the author's depiction of the times. There were memorable well-drawn minor characters too, like Mr Butterfield at the sheet-music shop where Willow sings, and Sister Briganti at the orphanage. I was only disappointed at how things were resolved between two of the characters towards the end but I won't say who because it would be a bit of a spoiler.

I loved having the map at the front of the book and referred to it several times to follow where William or Willow were in the city at certain points in the story, it brought it to life even more for me. 

This is an absorbing, atmospheric and well-paced read of family and friendship, love and loss, tradition and culture, pain and hope. Though at times it is joyful, there is much that is so heartbreaking; despite this I very much enjoyed reading it, in particular because of the strong characterisation and the vivid, captivating depiction of the setting and the period. 

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending me a copy of this novel for an honest review.

Published by Allison and Busby

My review of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

His Dark Lady - Victoria Lamb

'Lucy had come to realize in her time at court what a fragile thing reputation was, and how easily it could be lost...'

This novel is the second to feature the lead character Lucy Morgan, the first being The Queen's Secret (click the title to read my full review of that novel). 

This is another very enjoyable historical tale weaving fiction with real characters and detail from history, most notably Queen Elizabeth I, and a certain young playwright going by the name of Will Shakespeare. The story is set in the 1580s. Lucy is the dark lady of the title, one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, liked for her singing voice, she met the young Shakespeare briefly in the first novel, and here she becomes his muse. Several other characters from the first book make a welcome reappearance here, including Lucy's guardian Goodluck, once more involved in danger and intrigue. We learn that Lucy witnessed the secret marriage of Robert Dudley, beloved favourite of the Queen, to her cousin Lettice Knollys, and concealing her presence there from the Queen weighs heavily on Lucy's mind. 

I enjoyed catching up with these characters again, they had stayed in my mind after the first novel in the series, in particular Lucy and Goodluck, and I was curious and excited to revisit their world and discover what adventures they would be involved in next. I was also gripped and intrigued by how the author portrayed Elizabeth during these turbulent times in her reign; her hopes and her health as she gets older, her ongoing feelings for Leicester, whose 'marriage was still a wound in her side', the threats on her life from those intent on removing her and installing Mary, Queen of Scots on the throne and the resulting doubts as to who in her circle she can really trust. It's always interesting to see how an author depicts people from history when creating fiction, and I was intrigued by Victoria Lamb's take on Shakespeare, although how he behaves here might not leave you quite so fond of him! 

I liked how the narrative moved between the different threads of the tale, focusing on the main characters Lucy, Goodluck, Shakespeare and the Queen; this added tension and kept me turning the pages to find out how each strand developed. 

It's an imaginative, entertaining and dramatic tale read on its own. Having said that, I'd recommend reading The Queen's Secret first ideally, so that you can follow through the stories of each character more fully. I liked the author's notes at the end separating the fact from the fiction. 

The third part in the trilogy is due to be published early in 2014 and is entitled Her Last Assassin (click the title to see the cover reveal on Victoria Lamb's website).

Source - publisher review copy

Published by Bantam Press

Visit the author's website here and follow the author on twitter @VictoriaLamb1.

Cascade - Maryanne O'Hara - Book Tour

Set in the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression in America, this novel recounts the story of Desdemona 'Dez' Hart Spaulding. As the novel opens and we meet Dez, the reader quickly learns that her father William Hart, up until recently the owner of the playhouse in Cascade, Massachusetts, is seriously ill and that Dez, a talented artist who has studied in Paris, gave up on her dreams of working in New York City in order to return home and look after him. Like so many others at that time, his financial fortunes took a serious downturn and he lost his property and was to all intents and purposes bankrupt. Dez is forced to admit that she married her pharmacist husband Asa more out of a feeling of responsibility than out of any strength of love for him, something that is underlined for her when she meets fellow artist Jacob Solomon and immediately feels a very different connection with him. Her father's dying wish is for Dez to save and one day reopen the theatre in Cascade, and he entrusts her with a special box only to be opened on this eventual future date. The future of the town of Cascade itself is under serious threat, with plans to flood it and create a reservoir for Boston. 

Dez is confronted with a difficult situation, with choices that will affect her future life. The novel deals with the conflict between the promises and duties she feels she needs to keep and uphold, and the desire to pursue her love of art and to follow her heart's feelings towards Jacob. There are themes of duty and desire, hoping for freedom to pursue dreams and yet enduring the constraints of reality. Asa would like to start a family, yet Dez hopes to pursue her artist ambitions. The idea and role of an artist is very important in the story, as is water, both literally and in the imagery used. Dez tries to capture and portray water in her paintings, and she dreams about it.

I felt that Dez was a well-defined, engaging and strong character whose fortunes I wanted to read on and discover. She seemed real to me, in the way that she was clearly torn between what she had and what she wanted to have, and the sometimes flawed decisions she made. The author has created a lead character with depth and complexities, whose inner turmoil I could feel as I read.

Maryanne O'Hara carefully establishes a connection between Dez and the reader earlier on, and draws us in to care about her, and also to care about and feel connected to the once-vibrant town of Cascade itself; the town felt to me like a character in its own right. Through the eyes of her friend Abby, who is visiting the place briefly, Dez sees a different version of the town, realising how it must look now to an outsider: 

'..now Dez felt its smallness, its loss of its old glamour...Their once-fashionable resort town with its pleasant waters was looking more and more like the ghost valley that was invading dreams and even the pages of her sketchpad. She had done half a dozen studies: the drowning person's blurred upward view from the bottom of a flooded place. The bleary, uncertain light. The smooth stones, long grasses, and someone struggling through thick river mud, Ophelia-like, trying to find a place to breathe.'

Within the town, the playhouse is a symbolic building, built by her father and meaning so much to Dez, and we learn of its grand past, home to Shakespearean performances. The period detail rang true through the author's descriptions, but the historical aspect and setting never becomes heavy or overbearing in the story. As well as the Depression era in America, the ever worsening news that filters through from Europe adds another imposing backdrop to the tale. It was enjoyable reading an historical novel set in this period and location. 

I think the book cover design for this novel is very effective in representing key elements of the narrative - Cascade Falls, the role of water, and the artistry inside Dez's mind; I found it a very striking image; it made me look twice and think about the story again. 

Cascade is a moving debut novel about a woman and her emotions and dreams; a woman trying to maintain her loyalties and responsibilties but fearing that this is at the expense of her career, at a time when certain expectations were still firmly placed upon women by society. It is about the feeling of being in a quandary between accepting what you have and chasing after what you desire, and it is about art and about change. I enjoyed reading this book, the author has a pleasing style and brings a fresh perspective to eternal themes. I will be interested to discover what Maryanne O'Hara will write next.

Published by Penguin Books

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours  and to the publishers for the chance to read and review an ebook copy of this novel via netgalley.

Visit the other stops on the Cascade Book Tour

About the author

Maryanne O’Hara was the longtime associate fiction editor at the award-winning literary journal Ploughshares. She received her MFA from Emerson College fifteen years ago, and wrote short fiction that was widely published before committing to the long form. She lives on a river near Boston.

For more information on Maryanne O’Hara, please visit her website.  You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and GoodReads.