Julie's Review: The Fashion Orphans

Author: Randy Susan Meyers, M.J. Rose
Series: None
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
Publisher: Blue Box Press
Pages: 338
Obtained: publisher via NetGalley
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Families are complicated and sometimes it takes death for you to understand
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Estranged half-sisters Gabrielle Winslow and Lulu Quattro have only two things in common: mounds of debt and coils of unresolved enmity toward Bette Bradford, their controlling and imperious recently deceased mother. Gabrielle, the firstborn, was raised in relative luxury on Manhattan's rarefied Upper East Side. Now, at fifty-five, her life as a Broadway costume designer married to a heralded Broadway producer has exploded in divorce. Lulu, who spent half her childhood under the tutelage of her working-class Brooklyn grandparents, is a grieving widow at forty-eight. With her two sons grown, her life feels reduced to her work at the Ditmas Park bakery owned by her late husband's family. The two sisters arrive for the reading of their mother's will, expecting to divide a sizable inheritance, pay off their debts, and then again turn their backs on each other. But to their shock, what they have been left is their mother's secret walk-in closet jammed with high-end current and vintage designer clothes and accessories— most from Chanel. Contemplating the scale of their mother's self-indulgence, the sisters can't help but wonder if Lauren Weisberger had it wrong: because it seems, in fact, that the devil wore Chanel. But as they begin to explore their mother's collection, meet and fall in love with her group of warm, wonderful friends, and magically find inspiring messages tucked away in her treasures — it seems as though their mother is advising Lulu and Gabrielle from the beyond — helping them rediscover themselves and restore their relationship with each other. ~amazon.com

Review: I love sister stories, so I knew I had to read The Fashion Orphans. Now I'm no fashionista (I'm in sweats 98% of the time) but I can appreciate a closet full of Chanel. In fact, that might make me want to dress up. Although wearing Chanel in my basement office seems like a waste. 😁

Gabi and Lulu are two sides of the same coin but they don't see it that way. They see each other how their mother wanted them to see the other one: Gabi - The favorite older daughter and Lulu - the younger, less responsible daughter. While they were close when they were young, life pulled them apart as they grew up. Lulu always had her dad and grandparents to tether her to the real world; whereas, Gabi just had her mom. Plus their adult lives took very different paths with Gabi busy with her costume designer and Lulu raising kids and working in her in-laws bakery, they just didn't have much in common. The estrangement really begins when Lulu's beloved husband, Matt, drops dead from a heart attack and Gabi isn't really there for her. It doesn't help that Gabi is also dealing with her own marriage situation. 

It seems that Bette had grand plans for getting her daughters talking again and the included a closet full of Chanel. Of course there are things that they can't do and they need to figure out what to do with the vintage goods that would be something Bette would approve of and that her lawyer will sign off on. 

My favorite part of the novel was the meeting of Bette's friends who had their own club. This allows Gabi and Lulu to see their mom as a friend and woman, which they never got to see when she was alive. Within this group they find the love and support they desperately need to figure out what it is that they need to do with Bette's treasure trove. 

This book is a shout out to family, fashion and forgiveness. Definitely recommend this one to my fellow readers. 

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Julie's Review: Seduction

Summary: From the author of The Book of Lost Fragrances comes a haunting novel about a grieving woman who discovers the lost journal of novelist Victor Hugo, awakening a mystery that spans centuries.  In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo’s beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, Hugo began participating in hundreds of séances to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with the likes of Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo’s transcriptions of these conversations have all been published. Or so it was believed. Recovering from her own losses, mythologist Jac L’Etoile arrives on the Isle of Jersey—where Hugo conducted the séances—hoping to uncover a secret about the island’s Celtic roots. But the man who’s invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, has hopes she’ll help him discover something quite different—Hugo’s lost conversations with someone called the Shadow of the Sepulcher. What follows is an intricately plotted and atmospheric tale of suspense with a spellbinding ghost story at its heart, by one of America’s most gifted and imaginative novelists. ~amazon.com

Review: Seduction sucked me in by saying it was a historical fiction and it is but it's also a bit more than that too. It's about the seduction of temptation. It is about being pulled into something that is over your head and finding your way out of it.  It's about past lives intermingling with present ones. It's about reconciling with your past and moving forward.

It is a very nuanced novel and you need to pay attention to the details that Ms. Rose is including. They all end up being tied together in the end. About 1/2 way through I thought I had figured it out but Ms. Rose did an excellent job of throwing in a twist that made sense and worked better in the novel. (Hence why she is the writer and I am the reader)

Other than being a huge Les Miserables fan (musical and movie), I don't really know a lot about the man behind the story, Victor Hugo. I had no idea that he wrote much more than that novel and that he was exiled due to his political views. He was a man who was indeed brilliant but was also haunted with a profound sadness when his daughter died. In the beginning stages of his grief he wanted to connect with her so badly that he began to have seances as his home. Not only did he not speak to his daughter via these, he seemed to have opened a portal to Satan himself. It is his journals that lead Jac and Theo on a discovery that will impact their lives and those around them.

Seduction isn't a fast paced novel. Ms. Rose weaves an intricate story around 3 different time periods on Isle of Jersey. The characters in the novel are all engaging and intriguing to keep you pulled in. I would love for Ms. Rose to write a novel surrounding Theo's Great-Aunts, Minerva and Eva. I found them most fascination.

Reincarnation isn't something that fascinates me and I found myself more intrigued by Jac and her family's history, than I did in the weaving of the past lives. I am also curious to see how Jac moves on with her particular gift and if this will finally release her of some of her sadness.

I will definitely find my way to The Book of Lost Fragrances since that focuses on Jac and her family more. As for the other books in the Reincarnationists series, I will have to see.

Final Take: 4/5

Thanks to Amy Bruno at Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours for including me in this one!

Guest Blog: M. J. Rose

Today, a guest post by M. J. Rose as part of The Book of Lost Fragrances blog tour:  

M.J. Rose:  I've been fascinated with lost fragrances since long before I started writing The Book of Lost Fragrances... since I found a bottle of perfume on my great grandmother's dresser that had belonged to her mother in Russia. Here is one of those lost fragrances that stirs the senses and the imagination... (researched and described  with the help of the perfume writer Dimitrios Dimitriadis)

VIGNY - LE GOLLIWOGG

"Golliwoggs" were popularised in the late 19th and early 20th century by the illustrated books of British writer Florence Kate Upton. Though perhaps not her intention, her books contributed to the widespread use of the racial slur 'wog' - a word applied to dark-skinned people the world over. In the 1920's the Golliwogg character was reprised again by French perfumers Vigny, who created Le Golliwogg, a figural flacon with sealskin hair used to decorate the stopper.

Once regarded as a charming and humorous perfume presentation, the nature of the juice itself (a brisk floral with ambery, mossy nuances) is almost lost to what we nowadays recognise as it's rather indelicate packaging. Nevertheless, Le Golliwogg is highly sought after as a perfume presentation that speaks of an era typifying modes of thought that many once considered de rigeur.

This perfume is long out of production, leaving one to ponder if perhaps it is for the best.

---

Our thanks to M.J. Rose for this insight into the research surrounding her novel.  Jenn reviewed The Book of Lost Fragrances last week, and you can find her review here.  

Jenn's Review: The Book of Lost Fragrances

Summary:  A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra--and lost for 2,000 years. Jac L'Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances--and of her mother's suicide--she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it's financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing--leaving a dead body in his wake--Jac is plunged into a world she thought she'd left behind.  Back in Paris to investigate her brother's disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L'Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation - or is it just another dream infused perfume?
The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra's Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet's battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac's quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

Review:  I was really excited when the publicist offered M.J. Rose's The Book of Lost Fragrances because I loved her last book, The Hypnotist (my review).  The Book of Lost Fragrances is the fourth book in her Reincarntionist series and it's a rare series where you don't have to read the other books to enjoy the one you have in hand.

This is one of those books where, even though I didn't like the protagonist, I still loved the book.  I wanted to shake Jac, quite frankly.  When you keep having visions there is usually two ways to deal, either accept them or go mad, but Jac has found a third way, explaining them away with Jungian archetypes.  I understand why she is so reluctant to accept her visions, they've terrorized her since she was a child, but her long winded explanations have got to sound far fetched even to her.  Yet, once you have a coping mechanism, it's hard to let it go.  Still, her hard-headed realism make it difficult to like her.

Although it seemed slightly incredulous that all these stories tied together, I must say that I loved the Chinese-Tibetan story line.  There is a good dose of frightening reality (there is so much to which we turn a blind eye in that region) that makes this such a heartbreaking story.  I liked that this ending had more promise of hope that in the real world.  I loved the concept of scent memories being an access point for past lives.  I have a very sensitive nose and great scent memory so the thought of a certain scent being able to regress one beyond this lifetime is intriguing.  I thought Jac's lesson from her past life was interesting, and I honestly would have liked to see a little more closure with this storyline, but I understand why Ms. Rose left it this way.

I don't want to spoil the mystery by saying too much more, but this is a fantastic suspense novel, filled with past, present, and a glimmer of hope for the future.  I still have yet to read the first two books in the series, but I'm definitely going to because I adore M.J. Rose's ability to spin a story.

Final Take:  4.5/5

Check out other stops on the Lost Fragrances Virtual Book Tour

Jenn's Review: The Hypnotist

Summary:  An FBI agent, tormented by a death he wasn't able to prevent, a crime he's never been able to solve and a love he's never forgotten, discovers that his true conflict resides not in his past, but in a…Past Life.

Haunted by a twenty-year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.

Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to 19th century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: the theft of a 1,500 year old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

International bestselling author M. J. Rose's The Hypnotist is her most mesmerizing novel yet. An adventure, a love story, a clash of cultures, a spiritual quest, it is above all a thrilling capstone to her unique Reincarnation novels, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist. ~product description

Review:  Ever since I was a little girl, I have found the concept of past lives fascinating.  As someone who is spiritual but not religious, I might even believe in them. I've always loved the romance of it. So imagine my delight when Pump Up Your Book offered me a thriller that centered on that very subject.  My expectations were high and I wasn't disappointed.

M. J. Rose is a masterful storyteller.  Though her story is told from multiple points of view, it is Lucian Glass with whom the reader spends most of his/her time.  Whether you are a believer or not, it's hard not to empathize with Lucian.  It is obvious that the traumatic events in his life are affecting him, and possibly the parallel of traumatic events across several lifetimes.  While he struggles with his internal demons he's also trying to catch art thieves and murderers. I'm not sure Agent Glass would have been allowed to work this case in real life, all things considered, but it was a leap of faith I was willing to make.

The tale itself is expansive, on a couple of occasions I found myself going back and looking up a character's name to be sure I'd picked up the narrative correctly, but not to the point where it seemed over extended.  Ms. Rose also does a magnificent job of leaving the mystical aspects of the story open to interpretation.  It is never heavy handed or forced upon the reader.

While this is the third book in her Reincarnation series, it is a true standalone novel on a fascinating subject.  Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, if you like any one or a combination of the following, this book is for you:  White Collar, Leverage, The Thomas Crown Affair, and/or Dan Brown novels.  Now that I've discovered Ms. Rose, I'm going to go back and check out the first two books in this series, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist.  I will be placing them near the top of my TBR pile because I can't wait to jump right in.

Final Take:  4.0/5

Aside:  If reincarnation still isn't for you, you may want to investigate her other series, The Butterfield Institute.  

Guest Blog: M.J. Rose

Jenn is busy reading The Hypnotist by M. J. Rose, but in the mean time, I'm going to let the author tell you a little bit about the inspiration for the story:

Growing up, I didn't want to be a writer; I wanted to be an artist. We lived a block away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I started taking Saturday morning art classes there when I was just seven years old.

I've often felt art is my religion and that museums in general, but the Met specifically, are my temples of choice. That's where I go to be renewed, refreshed and inspired. I don't think I've ever gone longer than a month without visiting there.

So its not all that surprising that sooner or later I'd write a novel with a museum as one of my main characters and that I'd pick the museum that was in my backyard when I was a kid.

But how I got idea for The Hypnotist is surprising, at least to me. Sometimes I find it reassuring. Other times frightening. See what you think.

One day about three and a half years ago, on one of my regular pilgrimages to the Met, I headed straight for one of my favorite spots. The Mastaba Tomb of Perneb is a tiny bit of Fifth Dynasty Egypt transplanted to Manhattan, a gift from Edward S. Harkness to the museum in 1913.

You can enter the limestone tomb from the left or the right. One doorway leads to the main offering chapel. I took the other, which leads to a second ritual chamber. The space is very small and only three or four people can fit at the same time. I was lucky to be in the intimate ritual chamber alone and looking through the slot in the wall at a wooden statue of Perneb in the room beyond known as a serdab. In ancient times this passageway allowed for family and priests to offer up incense and chants to the deceased.

I heard footsteps. A little girl about seven or eight had entered and came up beside me to look through the slot. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a school uniform. I watched her examine the space, giving every section careful attention.

"It hasn't changed much at all," she said finally in a wistful voice.

I asked her what she meant.

"Since the last time I was here," she said.

Something about the way she said it made me curious. "When was that?" I asked.

"When I lived in Egypt."

"You know this tomb has been on display in this museum since 1916." I said.

"I lived in Egypt way before that," she said and smiled. She was about to say something else when from outside the chamber an older woman's voice called out.

"Veronica, it's time to go. Now. Please."

The little girl ran off, quickly, without looking back, without giving me a chance to ask her anything else.

Even though I write about reincarnation, I haven't had any meaningful reincarnation episodes of my own. I don't get visitations. I've never seen a ghost. But I'm not sure what happened that afternoon.

I can picture Veronica in her navy jumper and white blouse that had a dark smudge on the collar. She had a one-inch scratch on her left hand. Her hair was pulled off her face with a silver barrette. A lot of curls had escaped. She had a child's voice but it was so charged with adult emotion.

It was that emotion which sparked the idea for my novel, The Hypnotist. And the paintings and sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum that fueled it.

If you go the Met, please go visit Perneb's tomb. And if you see a little girl there with long blonde hair and a blue school uniform... ask her if her name is Veronica... and if it is, thank her for me.

Our thanks to M.J. Rose for the fascinating insight into an amazing novel! Come back tomorrow to read Jenn's review of The Hypnotist.  For further information, you can visit her website, on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter @MJRose.

Summary:  An FBI agent, tormented by a death he wasn't able to prevent, a crime he's never been able to solve and a love he's never forgotten, discovers that his true conflict resides not in his past, but in a…Past Life.

Haunted by a twenty-year old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.

Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to 19th century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: the theft of a 1,500 year old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

International bestselling author M. J. Rose's The Hypnotist is her most mesmerizing novel yet. An adventure, a love story, a clash of cultures, a spiritual quest, it is above all a thrilling capstone to her unique Reincarnation novels, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist.