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"An emotionally-charged, brilliantly realized novel set in the l930's about five American women--Gold Star Mothers--who travel to France to visit the graves of their WWI soldier sons: a pilgrimage that will change their lives in unforeseeable and indelible ways. The women meet for the first time just before their journey begins: Katie, an Irish maid from Dorchester, Massachusetts; Minnie, wife of an immigrant Russian Jewish chicken farmer; Bobbie, a wealthy Boston socialite ; Wilhelmina, a former tennis star in precarious mental health; and Cora Blake, a single mother and librarian from coastal Maine. In Paris, Cora meets a journalist whose drug habit helps him hide from his own war-time fate--facial wounds so grievous he's forced to wear a metal mask. This man will change Cora's life in wholly unexpected ways. And when the women finally travel to Verdun to visit the battlegrounds where their sons fought as well as the cemeteries where they are buried, shocking events -a death, a scandal, a secret revealed--will guarantee that Cora's life and those of her traveling companions will become inextricably intertwined, and only now will they be able to emerge from their grief and return home to their loved ones. This is a timeless story set against a footnote of history: little known but unforgettable.."--… (more)
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I hate to give a book 3 stars because it sounds like it wasn't good. This was a good book. A Star for Mrs. Blake is the story of the American Gold Star Mothers, mothers who lost their sons during WW I (many as young as 16) and who were consequently
While sub-plots were kind of predictable, the story had a certain beauty in its' narration. Ms. Smith's prose beautifully captures the heartache, anguish, trepidation and disagreements these mothers experience on their journey.
A lovely story with lots of historical background, believable characters and good flow. My only question was, and no spoilers given here, why were the crosses given back to Katie? How did that fit into the story?
The long widowed Cora Blake lives on a small island off the coast of Maine. She cares for her brother-in-law and her late sister's three daughters, single-handedly keeps the tiny island library open, and finds paying work when she can, in these tough economic times, at a fish cannery. Cora's only son lied about his age and enlisted in the army during the war, dying at only 16 on a battlefield in France so far from home. Cora has spent the intervening years missing her Sammy, wondering if he had had a father at home if he would have gone and died in the war, and second guessing her decision to allow his final resting place to be the French countryside where he fell. When a letter comes from the government offering to pay to send her on a pilgrimage to see her boy's grave, all expenses paid, she jumps at the chance, leaving behind a good man who loves her and an offer of marriage and future happiness.
Cora is one of five mothers in her group, traveling together from New York to Paris and then to the quiet fields outside Verdun where their boys fought and died. The women are from all different walks of life and different situations but they have the shared loss of their sons and their unavoidable grief in common. Bobbie Olsen is a wealthy socialite from Boston. Minnie Seibert is a Russian Jewish émigré who lives on a chicken cooperative. Katie McConnell is an Irish maid from a large and loving family and she lost two sons in France while her remaining young son is forever handicapped by a bout of polio. Wilhelmina Russell is a well-to-do athletically gifted woman recently released from an asylum where she was placed by her husband because of her recurring depression and his philandering. The women are so different that there are bound to be conflicts between them as they travel but there is also the bond of their unimaginable loss. The group is accompanied by the young, just out of West Point, Lieutenant Hammond and Nurse Lily Barnett, both of whom must address and solve any problems or snafus that arise in the course of the pilgrimage, starting from the very outset with the mix-up of the Mrs. Russells, both of whom lost sons but one of whom is white and one of whom is black and therefore to be on a separate pilgrimage.
The narrative flips back and forth between all of the women, their history with their boys, their lives at home, and their hopes for the pilgrimage, but the matter of fact, down to earth, peacemaking Cora Blake's story dominates the story line. In many ways, she assumes leadership of the women, smoothing things over between them and understanding their prejudices far better than the impossibly young lieutenant and nurse can. And it is Cora who meets Griffin Reed, a reporter badly injured in the war, and offers him her friendship and understanding as well as her story, a story that will change her own ending there in France. The experience of the mothers is emotional and moving as they confront anew the loss of their much beloved sons. Some of the plot twists are quite predictable and that detracts a bit from the emotional punch that the book serves but the story over all is a fascinating one, the characters are realistic and interesting, and the truth of the pride and the grief that these women forever carried in their hearts is carefully rendered and affecting. Fans of historical fiction will be drawn into the story of the women and their pilgrimage.
April Smith's new historical novel, A Star For Mrs. Blake, tells the story of Cora Blake, a woman who lost her only son in battle in France during WWI. She has had a tough existence since then, losing her mother and sister, and moving in with her brother-in-law to care for him and his three daughters.
The Great Depression has hit the coastal rural area of Maine particularly hard, and Cora scrapes by working occasionally at a fish canning manufacturer, difficult dirty work that pays little. Her saving grace is volunteering at the local library, which would not be open if not for Cora. She has a beau, a geologist who wants to marry her.
An opportunity arises where certain Gold Star mothers whose sons were buried overseas can go to France to visit their sons' graves, located in a big military cemetery. Cora jumps at the chance and in her small group are Katie, an Irish working woman who lost two sons, Minnie, a Jewish woman, Wilhemina, whom they discover spent time in an asylum, and Bobbie, a wealthy Boston socialite.
Lt. Tom Hammond is their military escort, along with Lily, a young nurse from Chicago. The women, who come from such different places, do not always get along and have more than a few skirmishes. Along the way, Cora meets Griffin Reed, a war journalist who was severely injured in battle and now has a tin mask covering part of his face and a morphine addiction. (Anyone who has watched HBO's Boardwalk Empire will understand about the mask, worn by WWI vet Richard Harrow in the show.)
Cora and Griffin become friends, perhaps because they both are hiding behind a disguise- Reed behind his mask and Cora behind a lie she has been living with for many years. I liked the growing relationship between these two people.
The women are taken from place to place in France, and soon strafe living under the military rules they have been forced to follow. Seeing these women who, once away from their husbands and families, become stronger and bond together is satisfying and learning more about their home situations is interesting.
There are some secrets discovered along the way, and I admit that I found at least one incident at the end of the book a little too soap opera for my taste, but overall I really enjoyed this book. The mixing of politics and military is also an intriguing aspect of this book.
Reading books based on historical facts interest me, and in the acknowledgements Smith shares her real life inspirations for her fascinating book. I had never heard about these Gold Star mother pilgrimages and will be looking for more information on them.
Fans of Sarah Blake's The Postmistress and Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone (who also had a protagonist named Cora) will find much to like here, with women who, once away from home, find something in themselves they may not have known existed.
Read the rest of this review at The Lost Entwife on Feb. 6, 2014.
Though the first half of the book moved a bit slowly for me, the pace did quicken as the mothers got closer to Europe. The personalities and backgrounds of the women featured in the book did seem to cover various walks of life, allowing glimpses into the worlds of different slices of society during the Depression. There were also some memorable characters introduced in Paris, notably Griffin Reed, an expatriate American journalist and Florence Dean Powell (based loosely on Anna Coleman Ladd, an American sculptor, fascinating in her own right, one of the artists who designed lifelike masks for gravely wounded soldiers.) While the book itself was a nice enough read, it was the pages of history it lead me to explore that really have enriched my life. Thank you April Smith, for again bringing these subjects to my attention so that I could delve more deeply, and thank you to dearreader.com and Random House for sending a copy of the book my way. I am grateful, and grateful to the men and women who honor our country by serving in the armed forces.
Smith's novel, however, has a different message. Where Claude finds a new frontier in the war in France, Mrs. Blake finds that there is really no place like home. The experience grounds her. Like One of Ours, the message is as mixed as the reality. War is not always glorious but sometimes necessary. Mrs. Blake struggles with her patriotism (and seeing the destruction in France) and her personal loss. Was it worth it? Not a question easily answered.
The novel is solidly written (again, her prose even reminds me of Cather's prose). The characters are interesting and well-developed. I loved the various mothers from different backgrounds. They were funny and tragic and not clichéd. This is an enjoyable novel for anyone who likes historical American fiction and a classic early-20th century American novel.
I received an advanced reading copy from Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for my review.
It's 1931 and the U.S. has arranged for the grieving mothers of soldiers killed and buried overseas in WW1 to view their sons
Yes, it's simply written and a quick read but at the same time it's informative, sympathetic and eye-opening.
TITLE: A Star For Mr.s Blake
DATE READ: 01/07/2016
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS Fiction / 2014 / Random House / 319 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE: SA
CHARACTERS AUTHOR: Mrs. Cora Blake/ mother of Sammy -- killed in WWI
TIME/PLACE: Post WWI Maine & Paris
FIRST LINES Cora
COMMENTS: This is a book I won on goodreads. Very happy to finally get around to it … This book is historical fiction -- taking place in 1931 about 13 years after WWI. Cora Blake lives in Maine and is "widowed" and lives in the home of her brother-in-law and his 3 daughters. Her sister passed and she assists w/ raising the girls. She also works at the local library, keeping it open even when there are no funds to run it during the Depression. Her only son, Samuel, died in WWI and is buried in France. The US Government is reaching out to the mothers of those soldiers who died for their country during the First World War and are buried overseas. They are sponsoring a trip for these mothers to Verdun, France where they can pay respects to their loved ones at their gravesites. Cora is joined by several other women of diverse backgrounds and these "pilgrims" aka Gold Star Mothers are chaperoned by an army nurse and West Point Officer. Most of these women have never left their home states and some their towns. On this journey, we have an Irish woman who lost 2 sons; a Boston socialite; a former tennis star who suffers some mental health issues, a Jewish mother who defies her husband in making this trip … these women would never have met but they all have a common bond and learn to care for each other, keep secrets and speak up when normally they wouldn't at home. I really enjoyed this book and think it would make a great movie.