Book Review: The Journey by John A. Heldt

The Journey by John A. Heldt
Book 2 in The Northwest Passage series
E-book, 242 pages
Self-Published by John A. Heldt
November 3, 2012
★★★★½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction (sort of), Time Travel

Source: Received from the author for review

“Seattle, 2010. When her entrepreneur husband dies in an accident, Michelle Preston Richardson, 48, finds herself childless and directionless. She yearns for the simpler days of her youth, before she followed her high school sweetheart down a road that led to limitless riches but little fulfillment, and jumps at a chance to reconnect with her past at a class reunion. But when Michelle returns to Unionville, Oregon, and joins three classmates on a spur-of-the-moment tour of an abandoned mansion, she gets more than she asked for. She enters a mysterious room and is thrown back to 1979.

Distraught and destitute, Michelle finds a job as a secretary at Unionville High, where she guides her spirited younger self, Shelly Preston, and childhood friends through their tumultuous senior year. Along the way, she meets widowed teacher Robert Land and finds the love and happiness she had always sought. But that happiness is threatened when history intervenes and Michelle must act quickly to save those she loves from deadly fates. Filled with humor and heartbreak, The Journey gives new meaning to friendship, courage, and commitment as it follows an unfulfilled soul through her second shot at life.”

I have to start by getting two things out of the way – 1^st: I’m not a huge fan of time travel stories, but this one worked for me. 2^nd: Don’t take the fact that it is self-published as a sign it is a lesser work. I know a lot of people shy away from self-published works, but John A. Heldt seems to have a solid hand at fiction writing.

While this doesn’t technically fit in the genre of historical fiction, as the bulk of the story takes place in 1979, it’s still before my time that I’m going to classify it as such.

The Journey is the 2^nd book in The Northwest Passage series; however it has an entirely different cast of characters (a pint sized Joel from The Mine does appear for a brief scene). And while we again find a person from the new millennium transported back to the past via a strange portal we do not encounter a rehashing of the style of The Mine. Whereas in The Mine Joel is transported back to a time before he was born, Michelle is transported back into her own past, when she was a senior in high school. This brings on a whole new set of dilemmas for a time-traveler. I was glad to see that Michelle freaks out about learning she is in the past and honestly tries to return home (something I found Joel to lack). And whereas in The Mine Joel actively tried to avoid changing the past, Michelle tries to right some of the things that went wrong in her senior year. However we do see the time-travel-ism of how changing one event can lead to a different chain of events.

It was also extremely interesting to see how Michelle would interact with her younger self, Shelly, and vice versa. We do get to see things from both Michelle and Shelly’s perspective. Obviously, no one is going to expect that someone they meet has time traveled, but Shelly questions things as she gets to know Michelle because she seems very familiar to her.

I think that this could be a good novel for a YA audience as well as a general adult audience. For teens it would be an easy introduction to the historical genre because the time period isn’t that far removed from what they know but still before their time and several of the main characters are high-schoolers dealing with high-school problems that today’s teens still face. It also has the time-travel element which might catch the attention of those who are neck deep in the supernatural.

If I thought that The Mine tugged at my heartstrings, The Journey pulled them apart. This was such a tear-jerker and I couldn’t believe the ending. Not only did I not see the event coming, but I couldn’t believe what actually happened. Another highly recommended read for 2013.

Author John A. Heldt also has written The Mine (book 1) and is currently working on The Show (book 3). You can visit John’s blog for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, you can read a sample of chapter 1 on the Amazon page.

My reviews of other books by this author:

• The Mine

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Reviews from the Heart
• The Towering Pile

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Read More

Book Review: The Mine by John A. Heldt

The Mine by John A. Heldt
Book 1 of The Northwest Passage series
E-book, 290 pages
Self-Published by John A. Heldt
February 12, 2012
★★★★½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Time Travel

Source: Received from the author for review

“In 2000, Joel Smith is a cocky, adventurous young man who sees the world as his playground. But when the college senior, days from graduation, enters an abandoned Montana mine, he discovers the price of reckless curiosity. He emerges in May 1941 with a cell phone he can't use, money he can't spend, and little but his wits to guide his way. Stuck in the age of Whirlaway, swing dancing, and a peacetime draft, Joel begins a new life as the nation drifts toward war. With the help of his 21-year-old trailblazing grandmother and her friends, he finds his place in a world he knew only from movies and books. But when an opportunity comes to return to the present, Joel must decide whether to leave his new love in the past or choose a course that will alter their lives forever. The Mine follows a humbled man through a critical time in history as he adjusts to new surroundings and wrestles with the knowledge of things to come.”

I have to start by getting two things out of the way – 1^st: I’m not a huge fan of time travel stories, but this one worked for me. 2^nd: Don’t take the fact that it is self-published as a sign it is a lesser work. I know a lot of people shy away from self-published works, however this one is well-polished and so well built that it made my list of favorite reads of 2012.

In terms of historical to time travel ratio, the historical aspects definitely win out. The time travel element is only heavily accentuated in the very beginning and end. I actually found myself wishing that Joel had reacted more to finding himself 60+ years in the past. He seems to quickly accept what has happened and starts to build a life for himself in 1941. I, on the other hand, would have been freaking out! I think that Heldt created a good balance of including what Joel knows will happen historically and investigating how he will react to that knowledge. Will he do anything to stop or change an event or let it happen? Joel takes the approach to time travel of, “I don’t want to do anything that will substantially mess up history especially because I haven’t been born yet” approach – which is one tried and true time travel belief.

The author also equally balances the historical events of significance with the historical events of Joel’s family. He is interacting with his grandmother and her friends in 1941 and things that happen to them can affect Joel’s life in 2000. It was interesting to see how Joel walks that line and learns a lot about his family and deeper meanings for things he only knew passing references about. I loved seeing how he reacted to meeting people in the past that he knew in the future. I have always thought it would be so interesting to see and know my grandmother when she was in her 20’s, her stories are always so fascinating, and I could sort of live that through the character of Joel.

The 1940’s world that the author builds just exudes the feel of this period – from the cars, manner of dress, attitudes, etc. The author definitely did his research to make the period jump from the pages.

I LOVED the characters in this book – the certainly stay with you even after finishing reading it. They felt so real. Each was different and carefully crafted. The emotions that they feel really pull at your heartstrings. There really weren’t any characters that I didn’t like, they all fell somewhere on a moving scale of likeability depending on what was happening at the time – which is how we perceive different people in our life anyway.

This book moves right along and at 290 pages you will be done with the book before you know it. The first half of the book builds a character for Joel in the 1940’s while the second half of the book really deals with what Joel is going to do. This was one of those books I just couldn’t put down. I went to bed with 10% left of the book (because I had to go to bed sometime and get up for work) and all the next day at work I couldn’t wait to get home to pick up the book and finish it – which is exactly what I did when I walked in the door. The story and the characters just wouldn’t leave. I highly recommend this book (and book 2, The Journey – review later this week!)

Author John A. Heldt also has written The Journey (book 2) and is currently working on The Show (book 3). You can visit John’s blog for additional information about the book. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, you can read a sample of chapter 1 on the Amazon page.

My reviews of other books by this author:

• The Journey

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Mary Ellen’s Musings
• Lucybird’s Book Blog

 

Copyright © 2013 by The Maiden’s Court

Read More

Book Review: A Light on the Veranda by Ciji Ware

A Light on the Veranda by Ciji Ware

ARC, Paperback, 480 pages

Sourcebooks Landmark

March 1, 2012

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance, Historical

Source: Received for review from the Publisher

“A ‘stand-alone’ sequel to Midnight on Julia Street, this novel tells the story of Daphne Duvallon, a wayward southern belle and Juilliard-trained harpist, who returns to Natchez, Mississippi from New York’s cut-throat classical music world, weary from professional battles and personal despair. Still wounded from the uproar that ricocheted through her family when she ditched Jack Ebert, her philandering groom, literally at the altar, she has an unexpected rendezvous with her future when she meets Simon Hopkins, a nationally-renown nature photographer with a dark secret of his own. Reinventing her life as a jazz musician while sorting through a series of bizarre collisions with her nineteenth century ancestors—and Simon’s as well—Daphne begins to get the feeling that she might well be better off making her way as a second-rate musician at society weddings than as a wildly successful woman band leader whose past is deeply rooted in the ‘Land that Time Forgot.’”

I can’t say that I have read a novel set in the Deep South, but the “Land that Time Forgot” was a wonderful setting for A Light on the Veranda! Ciji Ware creates the entire experience for you from the food, to the gorgeous old mansions, to the music – and oh what wonderful music! I love music and the jazz that Ware features in this novel makes you just want to run out and attend a jazz concert – certainly one like the Aphrodites! She really makes you feel like you have been there yourself.

This was also my first experience with a “time slip” novel. While most of the story takes place in a contemporary setting, fragments of the novel are set in the 1800’s. With these segments we learn about the life of some of the family members of Daphne, and Sim, Jack, and others from around the Natchez area. These time slips fit perfectly into the story and helped move the plot along and provide Daphne with some interesting references regarding experiences she was going through at the time. They never felt jarring or out of place – I just wanted more of them! Through these time slips we get a sense of 19th century plantation life.

For the most part I enjoyed the characters. Jack is quite is evil villain – I would really not want to get on his bad side, let me tell you! Sim is a sweet guy with a lot of baggage but someone you can really get behind and root for. Daphne got on my nerves from time to time with her constant flip flopping and relationship woes – but based on some of her experiences it does make sense.

I didn’t realize that this was a sequel of any kind to Midnight on Julia Street, having not yet read that novel. I do believe the blurb that says this works as a standalone because I did not feel the least confused about the plot points or backstory.

I also have to give kudos to Ware on her inclusion of safe sex. Reading primarily historical novels I don’t usually encounter this issue, however contemporary novels don’t typically address the issue either. It almost felt a little shocking to me to actually see the issue raised in the book, but then I felt “way to go!”.

Ciji Ware has written several fiction novels including: A Race to Splendor (link goes to my previous review), Wicked Company, A Cottage By the Sea, Island of the Swans, and Midnight on Julia Street. You can visit Ware’s website or blog for additional information about the books. If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

3.5/4 out of 5 stars.

Copyright © 2012 by The Maiden’s Court

Read More