Mystifying Masquerade

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb

In Heather Webb’s latest novel, she re-envisions the famous story of The Phantom of the Opera, best known as the powerful Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. In this book, Webb puts Christine Daaé more firmly at the center of the story, with a newly invented back story that reaches into Christine’s childhood to answer questions that the original French novelist Gaston Leroux left unanswered. The story, of course, is about a troubled man who falls in love with a young soprano and the lengths he will go to make her into the Paris Opera's brightest star.


First, I should quickly mention that while I loved this book, it isn’t absolutely perfect. There were a few instances where I felt that the words or language that Webb used didn’t fit the period of the novel precisely (meaning, the 1860s). These instances, however, were so very few and far between, that they didn’t distract from the book for more than an instant, and they weren’t severe enough for me to reduce my rating of this book. Despite this tiny niggle, I believe Webb succeeded in instilling a very somber, yet elegant tone to the atmosphere here with her prose. In fact, I feel Webb’s style of prose was so effective that there were times when I could almost hear some of Lloyd Webber’s haunting melodies going through my mind while I read (and maybe Webb did too).

What I really loved about this book was the things that Webb introduced here that hadn’t appeared in other versions (that I know of). To begin with, despite what seems like an initially frail character, Webb develops Christine carefully throughout the novel, into someone who slowly discovers that she has an inner strength that borders on being fierce. In fact, this is probably the most powerful part of Webb’s novel. To do this, Webb brings us back to Christine’s childhood, and her early life. This allowed Webb to invent Christine’s early friendship with Raoul, the Viscount of Chagny, and expound on that relationship (something I never understood from the musical). This, combined with the surprise ending, gives us a character that we not only love, but also admire for her ability to become something more than what the society of the time expected of her. One could almost say that this is a historical fiction, coming-of-age story.

This meant that Webb also needed to develop Erik, the phantom himself, in this novel, for without a convincing antagonist, there is no heroic side to the protagonist. I truly appreciated how Webb infused Erik with more than just being an evil, deformed creature. Webb’s phantom is terribly charming both despite and because of his cruel streak, but he’s also a very troubled person. Webb gives him far more motivation for his actions than those familiar with the previous sources ever revealed, and with that cames a level of empathy that allows us to believe that Christine could care for him, through her fear, while at the same time hating him, despite understanding why he is so hateful.

Together with this, Webb also expands on all the rest of the original cast of characters. Each of these minor figures have an important role to play in the story, and Webb weaves their stories into Erik and Christine’s. Webb also seems to have included a new character, a man by the name of Delacroix, whose involvement in Christine’s life is motivated on the one hand, by his long-time devotion to Christine’s guardian Mme. Valerius, and on the other hand, his apparent academic studies to disprove that conjurors can really contact the dead and the spirit world. The addition of Delacroix adds extra twists to the story, while also injecting the elements of magicians, magic and their illusions. These connect well with how Erik succeeds in presenting himself to the Paris Opera as a ghost.

In short, all of this made for a lusciously well-crafted story that echoes with intrigue and mystery, harmonizes with music, and sparkles with magic. Webb’s character development works expertly with her plot twists, to give us a novel that is simply enthralling and enchanting. For all this, I am enthusiastically recommending this book with a full five stars (although to be honest, if I rated books on a scale of ten stars, this would get nine and a half, because of those tiny slips in language that I mentioned at the beginning of this review).

(PS: Via the Gutenberg Project, you can download a free copy of the English translation of Gaston Leroux’s novel “The Phantom of the Opera” here.)

Sonnet Press will release “The Phantom’s Apprentice” by Heather Webb on February 8, 2018. This book is/will be available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo eBooks, Kobo Audio Books, eBooks.com, iTunes (iBook or audiobook), The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), new or used from Alibris or Better World Books as well as from an IndieBound store near you. I would like to thank the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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Carnegie’s Maid Blog Tour & Giveaway

Carnegie’s Maid Blog Tour & Giveaway

From the author of The Other Einstein, the mesmerizing tale of what kind of woman could have inspired an American dynasty.

Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She’s not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh’s grandest households. She’s a poor farmer’s daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the other woman with the same name has vanished, and pretending to be her just might get Clara some money to send back home.

If she can keep up the ruse, that is. Serving as a lady’s maid in the household of Andrew Carnegie requires skills she doesn’t have, answering to an icy mistress who rules her sons and her domain with an iron fist. What Clara does have is a resolve as strong as the steel Pittsburgh is becoming famous for, coupled with an uncanny understanding of business, and Andrew begins to rely on her. But Clara can’t let her guard down, not even when Andrew becomes something more than an employer. Revealing her past might ruin her future—and her family’s.

With captivating insight and heart, Carnegie’s Maid tells the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie’s transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world’s first true philanthropist.

Don't forget to read my review of this novel here! 

 

About the Author:

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms and for Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, with a focus in history and art history, and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. She is also the author of The Other Einstein. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

(Don't worry, if you can't enter the contest, or you don't win a copy of this book you can always buy it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery) or from an IndieBound store near you.) 

Join the Rafflecopter Carnegie's Maid giveaway!

No purchase necessary to enter or win. A purchase does not improve your chances of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Open to legal residents of USA who are 18 years or older. Giveaway begins January 15 and ends January 31. Enter the Giveaway during the Promotion Period online by submitting the entry form. The entry form can be found through the above form. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. 3 winner(s) will receive 1 finished copy of Carnegie’s Maid (approximate retail value or "ARV": $25.99US). By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to Sourcebooks. Sourcebooks does not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of this giveaway. Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads are in no way associated with this giveaway.

Praise for Carnegie’s Maid

 

"[an] excellent historical novel." -Publishers Weekly

 

"Feels like Downton Abbey in the United States...Benedict demonstrates the relevance of history to the present day in this impeccably researched novel of the early immigrant experience. Deeply human, and brimming with complex, vulnerable characters, Carnegie’s Maid shows the power of ambition tempered by altruism, and the true realization of the American Dream." -Erika Robuck, national bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl

 

"In Carnegie’s Maid, Marie Benedict skillfully introduces us to Clara, a young woman who immigrates to American in the 1860s and unexpectedly becomes the maid to Andrew Carnegie's mother. Clara becomes close to Andrew Carnegie and helps to make him America's first philanthropist. Downton Abbey fans should flock to this charming tale of fateful turns and unexpected romance, and the often unsung role of women in history." -Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan's Tale

 

"With its well-drawn characters, good pacing, and excellent sense of time and place, this volume should charm lovers of historicals, romance, and the Civil War period. Neither saccharine nor overly dramatized, it's a very satisfying read."     -Library Journal

 

"...engaging. The chaste romance will draw readers of inspirational fiction, while the novel is constructed to appeal to those seeking a tale with an upstairs-downstairs dynamic and all-but-invisible female characters who are either the impetus for or the actual originators of great men's great ideas. For Fans of Liz Trenow, Erika Robuck, and Nancy Horan." -Booklist

 

"Marie Benedict has penned a sensational novel that turns the conventional Cinderella story into an all-American triumph. Young Clara Kelley steps off the boat from Ireland into Andrew Carnegie's affluent world, where invention can transform men and women into whatever they dare to dream." -Sarah McCoy, New York Times and international bestselling author of The Mapmaker's Children and The Baker's Daughter

 

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Owning Your Team Colors

Green: A Novel by Sam Graham-Felsen

Everyone knows that middle school is the worst. Not only are these kids thrown into a new environment with new teachers and a bunch of new kids, they’re also dealing with the onset of puberty and all those hormones. Into this traumatic situation, Graham-Felsen places his protagonist, David Greenfeld. It is 1992 and David is starting sixth grade at the Martin Luther King Jr. School in Boston. The problem is, not only is David mostly on his own, but he’s also one of the few white kids there, and to make things worse, he’s also half Jewish. Somehow, David becomes friends with Marlon Wellings, a kid who lives in the “projects” and has the same ambitions to get out of King and into “Latin,” the comprehensive school that has more graduates getting into Harvard than any other.


It was interesting to note that the blurb on the publisher’s website for this book says this book is, “Infectiously funny about the highs and lows of adolescence, ...” Then further down the page I found that Publishers Weekly called this book “subtly humorous.” Okay, so, to start with, funny and humorous are probably the last adjectives I would ever use to describe this book. In fact, not only did I find this book to be extremely serious, this is probably one of the most difficult books to read I’ve ever experienced. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its quirks or lighthearted passages, but there are some very grim messages that Graham-Felsen is highlighting here, which should not be ignored or taken lightly.

To explain the part about why I found this a difficult book to read, I have two reasons for this. The first is the easy one, and that was the language that Graham-Felsen used here. What made it difficult for me was how much slang and jargon that Graham-Felsen included in the text. In fact, I found it to be so extreme in places, and in many instances found myself at a loss to understand what the author was trying to convey. This had a very jarring effect on the first half of the novel, making it feel like I was watching a home movie, filmed by someone with intermittent Parkinson’s. Just when I thought I was getting into the flow of the text, another slew of slang words would come up to shake that up. I initially found this unnerving, but as the book progressed, it just made me feel old. Ultimately, I did my best to ignore them, and succeeded in that some of the time, but I felt that in general Graham-Felsen over did it with the slang.

The other difficult thing about this book was the essential message I believe Graham-Felsen was trying to convey here. Aside from the usual problems of being a sixth-grader, one thing that Graham-Felson notes here is what his protagonist calls “the force.” This isn’t a Star Wars reference, per se, but rather that underlying feeling that David gets regarding being white in a mostly non-white environment. Graham-Felsen notes that his protagonist felt this “force” growing ever since the Rodney King/South Central riots that followed the acquittal of the police in the death of Rodney King. What this “force” is, then, is the incursion of racial fear, anger and hatred within both the white and the non-white populations, coupled with increased violence. It is as if Graham-Felsen is trying to point to the Rodney King ruling as the turning point that led to the very divisive atmosphere that the US is living through right now. It doesn’t matter if this theory is right or wrong, because watching David try to work through being at the center of this “force” – both internally and externally – is why this is rightfully called a coming-of-age story.

The question is, does David succeed? Of course, you’ll have to read the book to find out, and even then, you’ll probably need to decide for yourself, since Graham-Felsen doesn’t hand you the answers on a silver platter, and that’s a good thing. All of this is to say that while this isn’t an easy book to read, and while I didn’t find it at all humorous, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. In fact, one of the cleverest things about this book is how Graham-Felsen uses the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets, and their team colors as a metaphor for racial identity and tensions. This is one reason why I found this a very powerfully effective story, which is highly relevant, particularly for today’s younger audiences, but also for adults. I’m certainly going to recommend it, but the language and style here is the main reason I can’t give it higher than four out of five stars.

Penguin Random House released "Green" by Sam Graham-Felsen on January 2, 2018. This book is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo - eBooks and  audio books, eBooks.com, iTunes (iBook or audiobook), The Book Depository (free worldwide delivery), new or used from Alibris or Better World Books as well as from an IndieBound store near you. I would like to thank the publishers for sending me an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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