...(book review) Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M by Sam Wasson

    

Audrey Hepburn is an icon like no other, yet the image many of us have of Hepburn - dainty, immaculate - is anything but true to life. Here, for the first time, Sam Wasson presents the woman behind the little black dress that rocked the nation in 1961. With a colourful cast of characters including Truman Capote, Edith Head, Givenchy, "Moon River" composer Henry Mancini, and, of course, Hepburn herself, Wasson immerses us in the America of the early sixties before Woodstock and birth control, when a not-so-virginial girl by the name of Holly Golightly raised eyebrows across the country, changing fashion, film and sex for good.

FIFTH AVENUE 5 A.M by Sam Wasson

Published: 2010

Genre: Autobiography, Memoir, Non-fiction

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anyone who knows me will attest to my utter adoration of Audrey Hepburn as an actress and an icon. I fell in love with her films at a young age, adoring the unconventional beauty that makes her so relatable to so many woman, and the instinctual honesty of her acting. In a time when "perfect" actresses such as Marilyn Monroe graced the screen, Audrey was a refreshing introduction to Hollywood that rattled America's viewpoint in more ways than one.

Sam Wasson's book is a revelation on one woman's career and the build up to the film Breakfast at Tiffany's that would simultaneously enlighten and challenge America with its modern vantage point.

This book was fascinating to me and one of the most engaging non-fictions I've read - which is saying something, as it's usually a genre I boycott unless it suits me! I've grown up with theatre and old movies, and so the combinations of Hollywood glitz and glamour with well conveyed factoids suited me just fine.

I had no idea of the importance Audrey Hepburn's performance in Breakfast at Tiffany's had on America. The writers and directors fought to stay true to Capote's original characters and story, in the end adapting and toning down certain elements to make sure it wouldn't be rejected by a country who previously hadn't been exposed to such a nonchalant view of sex in movies, especially from a woman's perspective. 

Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly normalised the idea of a woman living alone and living life the way she wanted to. It carried women out of a repressed 50's attitude towards the more liberated 60's freedom.

"...the fact that she was living on her own at a time when women simply weren't, was very validating to me. It was very affirming. Here was this incredibly glamourous woman who wasn't convinced that she had to live with a man. She was a single girl living a life of her own, and she could have an active sex life that wasn't morally questionable. I had never seen that before."

I really enjoyed Sam Wasson's revealing but candid style of writing, and since finishing this book, I've discovered a book of his on Bob Fosse, another fascinating individual. I know what I'll be reading next!

As for Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M; I recommend it entirely. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below if you happen to read it; I love a good book chat!

Similarly, you can find me on Instagram and Facebook @zuzuspages in-between blogs for more bookish content!

Thanks for reading, 

Zuzu 🖊

...(book review) a secret of birds and bone by kiran millwood hargrave

Sofia lives outside of the city of Siena with her mamma, little brother Ermin, and their pet crow Corvith. Her mother is a bone binder, famous for her keepsakes and charms.

But ever since an unexpected visit from a silver-veiled stranger, Mamma has not been herself. She no longer takes pleasure in her work, nor will she let Sofia help her.

When Mamma is arrested on Sofia's birthday, the children are taken to the city orphanage. It's there that Sofia decides that she is no longer a helpless child. Clutching at her mamma's gift, an intricate bone locket, she sets out to unravel the secrets that bind her family to Siena itself: its catacombs and towers, it's birds and rivers. Its rulers and people. A journey to darkness, danger, destiny - and hope.

A SECRET OF BIRDS & BONE by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Published: Oct 2020

Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Historical Fiction

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Let me start this review by saying how much I enjoy Kiran Millwood Hargrave as an author, her concepts always feel fresh and inspiring, and in this novel I was in love with the idea of the "bone binder", which is equally as haunting as intriguing.

The descriptions of the bone creations throughout the novel were my favourite sections, and I was longing for them to be expanded on to satisfy my own curiosity. I enjoyed trying to conceive how they were created and envision how they looked. The intricacies of a locket made of bone for example, how would it look, how would it feel, how was it crafted? I could have read a whole book on this subject alone!

Bearing in mind that this is a middle grade fiction, it did have hints of darker undertones, being set in a city that has experienced the full wrath and wreckage of the plague upon its residents, leading to many children becoming orphans and ending up in the orphanage where they might serve a greater purpose to the duchessa who provides for them.

Sofia is a young protagonist, but an intelligent one. Both her and her brother Ermin's appreciation and recognition of their mother's skill in her unusual craft drives the book, and helps them unravel the mystery of her arrest and why she never returned home.

The pace is fast and exciting, and the mysterious interweaving of birds, bones, plague and secret tunnels comes together beautifully.

When a middle grade fantasy can still be enjoyed by adult readers, you know the author has done something right! Each novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave brings something new to the table, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

If anyone is looking for further recommendations of her books, I reviewed her YA Fantasy The Deathless Girls here, as well as her first Adult Fiction The Mercies, which I highly recommend. It's a gripping historical fiction set in the times of witch trials. I couldn't put it down!

For more bookish content, come find me @zuzuspages on Instagram and Facebook!

Zuzu 🖊

...(book review) the nightingale by kristin hannah

This story is about what it's like to be a woman during the war when women's stories are too often forgotten or overlooked...

THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah
Published: 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction, WWII Fiction
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

How I wish I'd finished reading this book in time for this review to coincide with International Women's Day last Monday - but, alas, life got in the way.

I did however finish reading it on International Women's Day, and my god it was a powerful feeling. To say this book was a pleasure to read would be inaccurate given it's content. But as a lover of literature and of history, it was a pleasure to be immersed in such a well written historical fiction. 

This is a tale of two sisters, Vianne, a teacher and a mother willing the war to be over with her head down and her eyes averted, until she's forced to confront it with newly open eyes; and Isabelle, a rebellious young woman seeking purpose in a world gone wrong.

Kristin Hannah has portrayed a woman's war so captivatingly and somehow managed to compress it into 438 thrilling pages. No detail has been spared. The lives of Vianne and Isabelle, in Nazi occupied France are filled we heartache, hunger, impossible love in an impossible time, the redefining of family loyalty, integrity; the strength of women in every sense.

Their struggles are unimaginable, but based on the experiences of so many women from this period in history. Their stories, running side by side and criss-crossing through the book, force you to evaluate your humanity. What would you do when faced with the decision between self-preservation and putting your life in danger to protect those who are powerless? I put myself in their place and wondered if I could put myself in that much danger with the eyes of the enemy literally in my home, watching my every move, patrolling the streets. I hope I'd find the strength to try, though my heart flutters at the thought of having to make such a weighty and consequential choice.

Although this novel is fiction, it's inspired by very real, incredibly strong women in history.

At the back of my edition, there's a few pages of reflections from the author, where she explains that the concept for this novel was sparked by research that led her to stories of the women of the French Resistance. Stories that were not well known and needed to be told.

There are so many stories from men in the war, from the front lines, of the horror and the fighting and the comradery. It was horrifying and there's know doubt about it. But those men returned as heroes in the public eye, celebrated alongside the end of the war.

Women in war are the silent survivors. We know of their struggles in terms of waiting for their men to return, saying goodbye to their children, enduring the rationing, surviving the blitz, working the land. But most of these stories are told from a British perspective, with the dismissive "keep calm and carry on" air about them. 

I've never read a book that so vividly and accurately bring to life the harrowing realities of women's lives in occupied France in this manor. 

A a lover of history, I was incredibly invested in this book. Even now, a week later, the tragedy, intimacy and reality of it are haunting me like a lingering ghost.

The war is still such a recent smear on history that I believe this will remain universal for many years to come. There are still so many families whose generations will remember and relate to many components.

Still, despite it's horrors, this book is touching beyond words and oh so empowering to read, speaking from a women's perspective. It highlights in bright revealing light what we are truly capable of, and how we have been, and perhaps still are, underestimated. It was because men believe women so docile and incapable that they were able to achieve all they did in the resistance. The Nazi's did not suspect women of political subterfuge.

I could rhapsodise on The Nightingale forever more, but I will end only by saying that this was the most solid 5 star read I've come across in a long time. I recommend it so highly and would love to know your thoughts if you've read it before.

Thanks as always for reading. You can find me across social media @zuzuspages for more book content.

Zuzu 

...(book review) the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society

January 1946: Writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Published: 2008

Genre: Epistolary Novel, Historical Fiction
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Aww this book! Somehow it manages to read as a 'feel good' novel despite its subject matter of post war reminiscence about Guernsey's German Occupation. It made me laugh out loud on many occasions. It's filled with the British sense of humour and the war time spirit of keeping calm and carrying on. There's romance, there's practicalities, there's tragedies faced with friendship and an enduring community spirit. And...there's dozens of references to books! Perhaps it's title should have given me a clue, but this is  quite literally a book for book lovers. The references to books and titbits of knowledge revealed about various authors satisfy the interest of the characters who are part of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but also us as readers.

It's so endearing when a story can be woven and revealed through a compilation of letters. I admire the authors' ability to write this way without leaving huge gaps in time unaccounted for, or questions unanswered. Letters are uniquely personal things, and by presenting the book in this way, I found instant insight into the characters that normally would have revealed itself more gradually throughout a novel. For this reason I'm always instantly engaged by Epistolary novels.

It's even more satisfying when this is done as a seamless collaboration between two authors. There is no distinction between their writing that I could detect. Both story and characters are fluid throughout.

As a history lover, I do enjoy a well written Historical Fiction. I enjoy learning about various periods of history without the stiffness or detachment of non-fiction delivery. There's something about the Second World War that always captures my attention. It's humanity's ceaseless strength during a period of time that could only be described a devastating and horrific. So much loss and destruction was witnessed and endured, yet everyone carried on stoically. So much of this is captured in this novel, and relayed so well.

I pride myself on being quite knowledgeable about the war years, and though I knew Guernsey Island was occupied by the Germans from 1940, I knew very few details about what went on during this terrible occupation.

My knowledge, therefore, was comparable to that of Juliet's in the book, who begins to correspond with various members of the Literary and Potato Peel Pie society after the war by chance, and requests details about their lives during the occupation and the general situation on the island to compile into an article.

It's inspired me to do my own research and find out more to fill this blip in my 1940s knowledge.

When a book can inspire you into more reading I consider it a success in every way.

I can't believe it took me so long to find this novel, but like Juliet says in one of her letters, "Perhaps there is some secret sort of homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." 

Maybe now was the time for this book to find me. 

I thoroughly recommend treating yourself to this story and exploring Guernsey both during and after the war through the eyes of its characters.

Thank you for reading everyone, let me know your thoughts on this book if you have read, or decide to read. You can find me in between blogs on Instagram and Facebook @zuzuspages

Zuzu 🖋