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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Whew, what a ride!! I am giving this 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Talk about a SAGA!! This was very engrossing and made all the more amazing since it was a true story! i had to keep reminding myself…and it seems folks were just as buck wild and out of pocket in the late 1890s/early 1900s as ever!!
A great exploration of sexism and racism. Duplicity and betrayal. Also loyal friendships and family that would literally stick together through any and everything.
From the jail house, alms home, bordellos, to “grande horizontal”(the crustiest of upper crust courtesans), to millionaire real estate speculator…whew. Home girl was dealing with the hand she was dealt and coming out like a boss. At great cost however. This is a story of the theft of childhood, the abandonment of family, deep grief and anguish. It also highlights many of the various ways the rich, especially white males, are protected from accountability and the law.
It also left me questions about what ever happened to her children.
This book was a huge undertaking and at times I felt like the magnitude of the story may have weighed the writer down somewhat as she combined actual court documents and journalistic research with literary writing that was more descriptive and nuanced….I don’t know exactly what it was but I felt in and then outside of the story in different ways as I was listening. And I am considering that I may need to read the paper book. There were a lot of characters to keep up with and I sometimes got lost.
But STILL!
Talk about a SAGA!! This was very engrossing and made all the more amazing since it was a true story! i had to keep reminding myself…and it seems folks were just as buck wild and out of pocket in the late 1890s/early 1900s as ever!!
A great exploration of sexism and racism. Duplicity and betrayal. Also loyal friendships and family that would literally stick together through any and everything.
From the jail house, alms home, bordellos, to “grande horizontal”(the crustiest of upper crust courtesans), to millionaire real estate speculator…whew. Home girl was dealing with the hand she was dealt and coming out like a boss. At great cost however. This is a story of the theft of childhood, the abandonment of family, deep grief and anguish. It also highlights many of the various ways the rich, especially white males, are protected from accountability and the law.
It also left me questions about what ever happened to her children.
This book was a huge undertaking and at times I felt like the magnitude of the story may have weighed the writer down somewhat as she combined actual court documents and journalistic research with literary writing that was more descriptive and nuanced….I don’t know exactly what it was but I felt in and then outside of the story in different ways as I was listening. And I am considering that I may need to read the paper book. There were a lot of characters to keep up with and I sometimes got lost.
But STILL!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like the gilded age itself, needlessly detailed. Aside from creating an evocative atmosphere and grounding the novel the countless facts, fictional trysts, and lists of contemporary names just weighed down the story.
A real rags-to-riches story, this time focused on a notorious woman punished by gender and racial biases. Forgiving the periodic historical expositions that distract from the historical fiction story this is.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
The story was about what women, black women in particular, have had to (and still continue to) struggle through. So many parallels in Hannah's story to half of the headlines that we've seen in the past few years. REMARKABLE!!
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Had this been literary fiction, it would be a fascinating book on the resourcefulness and self-reliance of a woman dealt a hard lot in life. The fact that it is historic fiction based on the life of the protagonist makes it a compelling read. Chase-Riboud weaves in many historic facts and figures which, while historically interesting, sometimes tend to be a bit too detailed, distracting from the action of the story. Now added to my To Read list, is Sally Hemmings, also by this author.