100 Pages A Day.... Stephanie's Book Reviews
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Stella Bain

12/26/2014

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A woman wakes up in a nursing tent among the WWI battlefields of France.  She has lost her memory, but comes up with the name Stella Bain, remembers that she can drive an ambulance and has a feeling that she should find someone at the Admirality.  The family of Dr. August Bridge, cranial surgeon takes Stella in during her recovery.  Stella discovers a talent for drawing and along with Dr. Bridge, she begins to discover the secrets of her past and recover from her shell shock.  Once Stella regains her memory, she also regains the reasons why she left home and what she must do to rectify the situation.  


An emotional and interesting portrait of a woman's experience during World War I. There are many reasons why Stella's character did what she did. The first half of the story is discovering just who she is and why she ended up where she was.  The second half of the story deals with Stella's character trying to fix what mistakes she had made in the past.  Stella is an amazingly independent women for the time.  I enjoyed the first parts of the book more, where Stella is dealing with her memory loss issues, talking with Dr. Bridge and drawing.  The scenes where Stella is driving an ambulance during the War are exciting and the scenes where Stella is being treated for what we now know as PTSD are insightful. After Stella recovers her memory, which happens very suddenly, the story turns to rehashing her past and a custody battle for her children.  While all of the court scenes shine a light on a woman's issues at the time, it did have a bit of a disconnect with the rest of the book.


This book was received for free in return for an honest review.  

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Garbo's Last Stand

12/10/2014

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Seth Moseley takes life day-by-day as a tabloid reporter on the eve of World War II, often gambling and drinking away his earnings.  When he gets a tip that the famed Greta Garbo may be aboard the ship Athenia, Seth risks everything to get the story and the shot. After he stows away onboard, Seth finds out that more serious motivations for Garbo being aboard the Athenia.  When Nazi's appear, Seth may be Garbo's last hope. 

Presently, James Main is a struggling filmmaker in L.A.  He places an add in a newspaper for anyone with stories about Greta Garbo and her mysterious retreat from fame.  A dying Seth Moseley answers his add and James finds himself listening to an unbelievable story about Greta Garbo's attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. 

Exciting, hilarious and heartbreaking, Garbo's Last Stand had me entertained throughout.  Combining a real historical event, the sinking of the SS Athenia with a fictional idea of why this passenger ship may have been targeted, Jon James Miller weaves a story of intrigue and second chances.  The characters were a driving factor in this story, Seth's character is lovable and funny even though he may not be doing things for the right reason; James is down on his luck, but wants something to believe in.  The dual time line, jumping back and forth between past and present creates suspense and gives Seth's point of view more meaning.  The ending got a little sappy for me, but did give justification to James' character as well as closure.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

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