First Chapter Review: The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin

 

I purchased a copy of the historical novel, The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin, when it first came out. I've been aching to read it, but have focused mostly on books I need to review the last few years.

BLURB: From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife comes a story of courage on the prairie, inspired by the devastating storm that struck the Great Plains in 1888, threatening the lives of hundreds of immigrant homesteaders, especially schoolchildren.

“A nail-biter . . . poignant, powerful, perfect.” —Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network

The morning of January 12, 1888, was unusually mild, following a punishing cold spell. It was warm enough for the homesteaders of the Dakota Territory to venture out again, and for their children to return to school without their heavy coats—leaving them unprepared when disaster struck. At the hour when most prairie schools were letting out for the day, a terrifying, fast-moving blizzard blew in without warning. Schoolteachers as young as sixteen were suddenly faced with life and death decisions: Keep the children inside, to risk freezing to death when fuel ran out, or send them home, praying they wouldn’t get lost in the storm?

Based on actual oral histories of survivors, this gripping novel follows the stories of Raina and Gerda Olsen, two sisters, both schoolteachers—one becomes a hero of the storm and the other finds herself ostracized in the aftermath. It’s also the story of Anette Pedersen, a servant girl whose miraculous survival serves as a turning point in her life and touches the heart of Gavin Woodson, a newspaperman seeking redemption. It was Woodson and others like him who wrote the embellished news stories that lured northern European immigrants across the sea to settle a pitiless land. Boosters needed them to settle territories into states, and they didn’t care what lies they told these families to get them there—or whose land it originally was.

At its heart, this is a story of courage, of children forced to grow up too soon, tied to the land because of their parents’ choices. It is a story of love taking root in the hard prairie ground, and of families being torn asunder by a ferocious storm that is little remembered today—because so many of its victims were immigrants to this country.

COVER: This cover is beautiful and haunting. The accumulating snow, the children looking through the window, the snowflakes coming down sideways to reflect the high winds that happened that January day in 1888 when so many children perished on the unforgiving prairie. The back of this cover appears snowy. I like the italics for the title's first word. 

FIRST CHAPTER: Raina is recalling a memory of her family. It seems like she is right there with her father and sister, Gerda. But she isn't. Barely out of school herself, Raina is a schoolteacher boarding with the Pedersen family. Gerda is teaching at another school far away from home. 

When Anette Pedersen drops her reader, Raina is drawn back to the present. A January day that brought with it warm temperatures that allowed for the children to attend school for the first time in days. People who had been trapped inside their homes because of the cold, ventured out. Raina sends the schoolchildren out for recess, but soon the sky changed and one of them runs back inside to get the teacher. 

KEEP READING: I am familiar with this part of American history. I also own the non-fiction book by David Laskin of the same title that Benjamin used as source material for her novel. I've read books by Benjamin in the past, so that was another reason to purchase The Children's Blizzard. 

When I approached this novel, I read the author's note first, then I read what might have been an introduction or prologue; it wasn't titled, so the reader can decide how what they want to consider it. I found reading the author's note helpful, because it taught me how Benjamin approached her story. 

In The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel, and her other historical novels, she centered the story around historical characters. With The Children's Blizzard, she centered the story around fictional characters, even though they may be based on real people. I like that she stretched her wings in a different way. The storytelling remains strong and engaging. I expect a fabulous story from beginning to end. I am thinking it will take me a while to get through this novel, simply because I know the history and it will be heart wrenching to read what happens to these characters. Despite that, I am eager to continue.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Delacorte Press (January 12, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399182284
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0399182280

I purchased a copy of this book from Amazon. This First Chapter Review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

"Waiting On" Wednesday: The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

I first learned of Melanie Benjamin when I helped promote her novels, Alice I Have Been and  The Autobiography of Tom Thumb. While I haven't been able to make room for all her books in my reading schedule, I would like to get to this one when it comes out later this month.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My pick for this week is:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife comes an enthralling new novel about Truman Capote’s scandalous, headline-making, and heart-wrenching friendship with Babe Paley and New York’s society “swans” of the 1950s.

Centered on two dynamic, complicated, and compelling protagonists—Truman Capote and Babe Paley—this book is steeped in the glamour and perfumed and smoky atmosphere of New York’s high society. Babe Paley—known for her high-profile marriage to CBS founder William Paley and her ranking in the International Best-Dressed Hall of Fame—was one of the reigning monarchs of New York’s high society in the 1950s. Replete with gossip, scandal, betrayal, and a vibrant cast of real-life supporting characters, readers will be seduced by this startling new look at the infamous society swans.

Book Spotlight: The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

I was originally scheduled to review this title, but it never arrived. Instead, I am featuring a book spotlight. Enjoy!


For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. Hounded by adoring crowds and hunted by an insatiable press, Charles shields himself and his new bride from prying eyes, leaving Anne to feel her life falling back into the shadows. In the years that follow, despite her own major achievements—she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States—Anne is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator’s Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure.

“Vivid and mesmerizing, The Aviator’s Wife takes us behind the scenes and into the heart of the woman who loved and married Charles Lindbergh. That was her destiny – a life that took her soaring into the skies and then plunged her to earth, a story of both triumph and pain that will take your breath away.” 
—Kate Alcott, author of The Dressmaker

Purchase the Book:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

Melanie Benjamin is the author of the nationally bestselling Alice I Have Been and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. Her latest book is the historical fiction, The Aviator’s Wife.

Benjamin lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next historical novel.

Visit the Author:

WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK

New Releases to Look Forward To

A new year brings with it new releases. Here are some upcoming books I'm looking forward to reading this year.

"Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner."

Coming in February!

"For much of her life, Anne Morrow, the shy daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, has stood in the shadows of those around her, including her millionaire father and vibrant older sister, who often steals the spotlight. Then Anne, a college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family. There she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles's assurance and fame, Anne is certain the celebrated aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong.

Drawing on the rich history of the twentieth century—from the late twenties to the mid-sixties—and featuring cameos from such notable characters as Joseph Kennedy and Amelia Earhart, The Aviator's Wife is a vividly imagined novel of a complicated marriage—revealing both its dizzying highs and its devastating lows. With stunning power and grace, Melanie Benjamin provides new insight into what made this remarkable relationship endure."

Coming January 15th!

"Katarina Bishop and W.W. Hale the fifth were born to lead completely different lives: Kat comes from a long, proud line of lovable criminal masterminds, while Hale is the scion of one of the most seemingly perfect dynasties in the world. If their families have one thing in common, it’s that they both know how to stay under the radar while getting-or stealing-whatever they want.

No matter the risk, the Bishops can always be counted on, but in Hale’s family, all bets are off when money is on the line. When Hale unexpectedly inherits his grandmother’s billion dollar corporation, he quickly learns that there’s no place for Kat and their old heists in his new role. But Kat won’t let him go that easily, especially after she gets tipped off that his grandmother’s will might have been altered in an elaborate con to steal the company’s fortune. So instead of being the heir-this time, Hale might be the mark.

Forced to keep a level head as she and her crew fight for one of their own, Kat comes up with an ambitious and far-reaching plan that only the Bishop family would dare attempt. To pull it off, Kat is prepared to do the impossible, but first, she has to decide if she’s willing to save her boyfriend’s company if it means losing the boy."

Coming in February!

"Orphaned after the death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, she’s met by her distant cousin, a laconic cattle rancher named Ferris Pickett. Pick leads her to a tiny cabin by a small lake called Half-a-Mind, and there she begins her new life as a homesteader. If she can hold out for five years, the land will join Pick’s already impressive spread. But Esther discovers that this town on the edge of civilization is in the midst of a range war. There’s plenty of land, but somehow it is not enough for the ranchers—it’s cattle against sheep, with water at a premium. In this charged climate, small incidents of violence swiftly escalate, and Esther finds her sympathies divided between her cousin and a sheepherder named Ben Cruff, a sworn enemy of the cattle ranchers. As her feelings for Ben and for her land grow, she begins to see she can’t be loyal to both. Little Century maps our country’s cutthroat legacy of dispossession and greed, even as it celebrates the ecstatic visions of what America could become."

Coming in July!

"Winter 1554. Brendan Prescott, spymaster to the Princess Elizabeth, has discovered that he is connected to the Tudors by blood as well as allegiance. Though his secret is known only by a few, it could be his downfall as he is called to London to protect the princess. Accompanied by his young squire Peregrine, he reluctantly leaves his sweetheart Kate behind - but in the city he discovers that no one is quite what they seem. What fate does Queen Mary intend for her sister? Is Robert Dudley somehow manipulating the princess, even though he is locked in the Tower? And should Brendan trust the alluring Sybilla, Mary's lady-in-waiting, who professes to be on his side? As he tries to unravel the mysteries of the Tudor court Brendan's life will be put in danger many times, and along the way he learns more about his own past."

Coming in July!

What upcoming releases are you eager to read?

Book Review: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

A fascinating story of one of the world's most famous "little people" is what you'll find in The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb: A Novel.

Mercy Lavinia (Vinnie) Warren Bump was only 32 inches tall, but she led a big life. Born during a time when a women of her size would have been hidden away to be cared for by her family, Lavinia desired more. As a descendent of families that had come over on the Mayflower, she was determined not to let her small stature define her.

She became a school teacher at the age of 16, where many of her students were larger than she. Of firm resolve and sound mind, her students admired and respected her. A visit from a cousin would give her life new direction. Lavinia began performing on a Mississippi showboat until the Civil War put an end to that career. It would be her letter to P.T. Barnum and meeting Charles Stratton (General Tom Thumb) that would catapult Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump to superstar status and bring her fame and fortune.

When Melanie Benjamin toured with Alice I Have Been in 2010, I couldn't work a review into my schedule. The book received so many rave reviews that I kicked myself for months. When I heard she was touring with her latest release, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, I knew I couldn't miss out again. Now I know why so many people loved her first historical novel.

In The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, Benjamin has blended historical details, with research from biographies and personal essays, and her insights into the life of Vinnie to provide a fascinating story that will draw the reader in from the very first page.

I have to admit to not knowing much about Vinnie until now, but reading this book has made me want to learn more. Benjamin portrays Vinnie as an intelligent woman determined not to let her size become an excuse or an obstacle to her leading the life she desires. The author delves deeply into Vinnie's psyche and emotions (something Benjamin says was lacking in anything Vinnie had written), so that the reader is totally captivated by her story.

As a lover of history, I appreciated the historical blurbs that began each chapter. These give the reader a sense for where the country was and what America was experiencing during certain points in Vinnie's life. I feel this was very important, especially for a book such as this, because Vinnie lived during an important time in America. The pioneering life was ending; the country was divided by war for years; the railroad companies were working to connect the east and west coasts; and Vinnie got to be a part of all this in some way or another.

Another thing I appreciate about Benjamin's portrayal is Vinnie's dedication to her younger sister, Minnie, who would end up leaving home and traveling with her sister and brother-in-law, along with another dwarf, Commodore Nutt and performing as the most famous quartet in the world. The two sisters were close, and the author truly brought that to life within the book's pages.

Mercy Lavinia Warren Bump Stratton led a much more glamorous life than expected. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb creates a believable, engaging portrayal of many of those years. Benjamin is definitely an author I've added to my favorites list. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!


Title: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
Author: Melanie Benjamin
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN-10: 0385344155
ISBN-13: 978-0385344159
SRP:  $25.00 (hardcover)

Also available in electronic format and as an audio book.

The publisher paid me to promote this book through a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book. That fee did not include a review. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I received no monetary compensation.

A Story Behind a Children's Classic by Melanie Benjamin

Today's guest blogger is Melanie Benjamin, author of Alice I Have Been: A Novel.

Few works of literature are as universally beloved as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, in this spellbinding historical novel, we meet the young girl whose bright spirit sent her on an unforgettable trip down the rabbit hole–and the grown woman whose story is no less enthralling.

But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does it sound ungrateful?

Alice Liddell Hargreaves’s life has been a richly woven tapestry: As a young woman, wife, mother, and widow, she’s experienced intense passion, great privilege, and greater tragedy. But as she nears her eighty-first birthday, she knows that, to the world around her, she is and will always be only “Alice.” Her life was permanently dog-eared at one fateful moment in her tenth year–the golden summer day she urged a grown-up friend to write down one of his fanciful stories.

That story, a wild tale of rabbits, queens, and a precocious young child, becomes a sensation the world over. Its author, a shy, stuttering Oxford professor, does more than immortalize Alice–he changes her life forever. But even he cannot stop time, as much as he might like to. And as Alice’s childhood slips away, a peacetime of glittering balls and royal romances gives way to the urgent tide of war.

For Alice, the stakes could not be higher, for she is the mother of three grown sons, soldiers all. Yet even as she stands to lose everything she treasures, one part of her will always be the determined, undaunted Alice of the story, who discovered that life beyond the rabbit hole was an astonishing journey.

A love story and a literary mystery, Alice I Have Been brilliantly blends fact and fiction to capture the passionate spirit of a woman who was truly worthy of her fictional alter ego, in a world as captivating as the Wonderland only she could inspire.

"A Story Behind a Children's Classic" by Melanie Benjamin

I pride myself on thinking that I’m a pretty smart person, very well-read. But it turns out that I don’t know as much as I think I do, and I’m actually very grateful for that. A gaping hole in my knowledge of children’s literature is the main reason that I wrote ALICE I HAVE BEEN.

I knew nothing about Lewis Carroll beyond the fact that he wrote ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. That was it. So when I happened to come across an exhibit called “Dreaming in Pictures: The Photography of Lewis Carroll,” I was curious enough to want to see it, because I had no idea that Lewis Carroll had ever taken a single photograph in his life.

Thank goodness for that! Because once inside this remarkable exhibit, I was completely taken aback by how little I knew about this man. For instance, I didn’t even know that Lewis Carroll was a pseudonym; his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and he was a mathematics don at Oxford University in the 1860’s. So – the man who wrote two classics of children’s literature was actually writing under a different name; he was a pioneer in the art of photography; his day job was a mathematics professor.

How intriguing!

He also was a very close friend with a little girl named Alice Liddell; he took her photograph many times; he told her a story about a little girl who fell down a rabbit hole, which she then asked him to write down.

Curiouser and curiouser!

In fact, my curiosity was piqued so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about this little girl. I couldn’t stop wondering what happened to her after she grew up; I couldn’t stop imagining what happened between her and this very mysterious mathematics professor/photographer/storyteller, because something obviously had. The photograph he took of her was so very startling; she looked at the camera – and at him - with such an adult, worldly, wise gaze for a seven-year-old.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how little I knew of this entire story, the story behind ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. And it occurred to me that other people might want to know about it, too. And so I finally just had to write it, not only to satisfy my own curiosity but to satisfy other people’s, as well.

If I had known any of this, I wouldn’t have written this book. And what a delightful, rewarding experience I would have missed! So I feel very blessed, in such a curious way, by my lack of knowledge. For it made me wonder, made me want to know more; it made me want to tell others about what I discovered, as well.
Many writers say you should write what you know. Maybe that works for them.
As for me, I decided to write about what I didn’t know. And I’m so very glad that I did.

Melanie Benjamin lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two sons, where she is working on her next historical novel. Visit her website at www.melaniebenjamin.com.