He must be talking about the children that own these toys. What were their names? I always pride myself on my ability to remember the little one’s names, they get so upset […]
FAREWELL MY LIFE is in three parts. The second part, AN UNSUITABLE SUITOR opens in Berlin, Germany in January 1922. At that time, Berlin was a poor and impoverished city, still recovering […]
PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain is a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage to Hadley Richardson, and the time they spent together in Paris during the 1920s. Hadley Richardson was not […]
“Catch and Kill” refers to a tactic used by news organizations to get rid of stories they don’t like. They spend a (HUGE) sum of money to buy the rights to the […]
What was the first historical novel you read? I’m not sure, but I remember enjoying Jean Plaidy’s Isabella & Ferdinand trilogy (Castile for Isabella, Spain for the Sovereigns, and Daughters of Spain) […]
But the bears I’d seen were black or brown, and were large, muscly, fearsome creatures. This thing was not only the wrong color, it was—stuffed. Like that strange cat, no muscle nor […]
FAREWELL MY LIFE is three parts. The first part, THE LOST MOTHER opens in Georgetown in September 1921. At that time Georgetown was NOT the busy commercial hub that it now is, […]
THE DAUGHTERS OF PALATINE HILL is the sequel to I AM LIVIA. Whereas the first novel dealt with the life of Livia Drusilla and her relationship with the Emperor Augustus, DAUGHTERS deals […]
I AM LIVIA opens in an arresting way, when 15-year-old Livia Drusilla overhears her father and his friends plotting to murder Julius Caesar. Most novels would be a disappointment after that opening. […]
What does your writing routine look like? The truth is that I don’t have a writing routine. When I write, I work every day in the morning because that is my best […]
“The author knows her characters very, very well; this shows in the consistent and very individual way they act. This is not a plot-driven story; it’s character-driven. In this book, the characters are the jam which holds everything together. The best example of this is Grace, the talented violinist, who, simply, jumps off the page. I loved her.”
“Farewell My Life by Cynthia Sally Haggard is three books in one; The Lost Mother, An Unsuitable Suitor, and Farewell My Life. However, it is the storyline of one family through a few decades starting at the end of the Great War.
“I really enjoyed these books, it was a hefty book also but broken up well between the three. I also liked that the author did skip ahead years for the last one, and did not waste time with boring, non-relevant information just to get to where she needed in time. I enjoyed how it was written amongst the different characters viewpoints, and it wove together well.”
“A unique, deftly scripted, and extraordinary novel by an author with a distinctive narrative storytelling style that will hold the readers dedicated attention from beginning to end, “Farewell My Life: Buona Notte Vita Mia” is an impressive and unreservedly recommended addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. One of those rare novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf, it should be noted for personal reading lists that “Farewell My Life: Buona Notte Vita Mia” is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).”
