Book Reviews

Just finished reading The Water Witch by Jessica Thorne and quickly ordered The Bookbinder's Daughter. There were times when the writing became a tiny bit confusing but the story made up for it. For anyone who likes fantasy and unusual happenings in a European setting, this is a book for you. Story line is a woman coming back to the place where she lost her fiancé, and diving to find a lost city that may or may not be a myth. Intrigued?

Next book on my list is: The Fire in the Glass by Jacquelyn Benson. This is a unique read, set in 1914 London. Romantic, unusual, and intriguing in all the ways a good book should be. Seances, mediums, people with unique talents--need I say more? I give it a solid 5. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the second book in the series, The Shadow of Water. But you might. Same characters, but the plot got away from me, the situation losing me as it went on. It's more violent and graphic than the first book and also more convoluted. I guess I'm a a lazy reader these days.

Also any of the series called Echoes from the Past, by Irina Shapiro are worth a read. I usually have to wait a while in between books since it is the same characters that carry through and it can become boring. But writing is good and plots are always good.

More later...

Thanks for reading!

A month for women

May as well say it's the month for second class citizens. We have been demoted. While the politics in many states are turning back the clock, we are speaking out.

I could make this into a political rant to assuage my frustration, but instead I am planning to focus on an idea I had regarding a new book.

We have come full circle. We are now close to being poised with the pioneers who stood up for women's suffrage. Yes, we have the vote, but we still don't make as much as men doing the same jobs. We are losing our bodily rights that we fought so hard for. Women of color have even more problems to contend with. Did you know that we couldn't get a credit card in our own name until the 1970's?

Back to my next book. I have recently come upon several women who made history back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The first woman to run for president in this country was Victoria Woodhull, who ran in 1872 for the Equal Rights Party. She supported women's suffrage and equal rights for women and labor reforms. But it all came to an end when she was arrested on obscenity charges because of a paper she published regarding an affair between Henry Ward Beecher, a minister, and Elizabeth Tilton--her account was more detailed than deemed proper at that time in history. Not to be held back she started several businesses, one as a spiritual healer using magnets. She was the first woman to operate a brokerage firm. She was part of the spiritualist movement of the time, along with several other women I've been reading about.

I have narrowed my search for a heroine down to three candidates: Victoria Hull, Annie Horniman, who was an avid Tarot card user and believed in astral travel. She was also heavily involved with the theater. The third is Anna Kingsford who was a doctor in a time when males predominated in that field. She was a pioneer for animals rights and also a writer. She, as the others, was a believer in the occult and felt she could talk to fairies, travel through time and channeled visions which included the creation of the universe.

History is rich with these wonderful women who refused to be stopped. My book would be a fictionalized version of one of their lives, my own imagination there to fill in the gaps. As I mentioned at the beginning--we have come full circle and have arrived in the past.

Which of these women would you like me to focus on? Leave a message if you have an opinion on the subject. nikkibroadwell@yahoo.com or nikki@nikkibroadwellauthor.com

Thanks for reading!!!

New Book!

By now you probably know that my book Finding the Tree has been published--nearly a year in the making this book dives deep into women's rights. Fantasy is a good way to manage themes of this nature. If you haven't picked up a copy as yet, it is only .99 but that price will soon go up! It is irksome that a book that has taken so long and has been edited many times is worth so little to so many people! I hope you can take this in stride, because as a writer, it is a difficult road. But then again I'm not in it for the money--if I were, I'd be LONG GONE!

Here is an excerpt to whet your appetite:

Waking to the smell of smoke propelled me to my feet, my eyes watering as soon as I opened them. Outside my window flames licked at the dry wood of downed trees, the smell of char and the sound of limbs crashing sending me into a panic. The whispering was now a roar in my ears, the pain of the trees twisting inside my belly. I grabbed my books, the pendant and the comb and threw them into my rucksack, grabbing the water bottle and the rest of the cheese and bread in the larder and adding them to the mix. It was obvious that I didn’t have time to think things over too carefully—the fire was moving toward my little shelter with alarming speed.

Tears welled. The forest had always been my sanctuary, but now it was on fire and there was nothing I could do. Sneaking into the library must have angered God, and now I was being punished for my transgressions. And yet I’d been poised to go, I reminded myself. Maybe this god was on my side after all. But the thought of the trees burning up and the animals running for their lives…and the fox—he was like a pet now, sleeping inside on the colder winter nights and eating from the bowl I left out by the door. I scanned for him but didn’t see him.

Away from the inferno I witnessed a world I no longer recognized. Gone were the brick and wood houses, and the tiny shops; the narrow paths that led between them were covered in rocks and mud. The community square where people sold their goods, the pens that housed the pigs, the pastures filled with horses and goats had literally been obliterated. The windmills lay twisted across the ground. The land was scoured, with large piles of steaming rubble scattered here and there. The only building still standing was the library.

The wooden doors were open and ablaze. I could see the glow of flames within. The books were burning. When I closed my eyes, I could smell the dust and hear the leather sizzling, the whoosh of ancient paper curling into ash and the crack as the glass of the locked cabinet broke apart. I ran for the door and burst inside, holding a scarf over my mouth and nose as I grabbed the charred books that had fallen from the cabinet. The shelves were on fire, flames licking upward as books fell, disintegrating as they landed. In the side room the papers and maps were in flames and the table and chairs were nearly burned away. Perhaps a candle had been left burning after one of the meetings? I scanned quickly for the journal, but it wasn’t there.

I ran for the door, barely making it outside before the shelves exploded, the glass bursting outward and showering the ground with burning embers and ash. There was not another human being in sight. I ran from the village as though the gods were chasing me, shockwaves sending the adrenaline I needed. This wasn’t about me—it was about everyone and everything. My precious books were no more and the only home I’d known was gone.

I must warn sensitive readers--this book is not for the faint of heart--if you've read The Handmaid's Tale, this one is similar in tone. If you are interested, just click on the title in orange to go to Amazon.

Thanks for reading!