Jencey's Corner

Renee Rosen in her novel What The Lady Wants introduces us to Marshall Fields and Delia. How many of you remember Marshall Fields and his store in Chicago?  Harry Selfridges’ store in London?  The readers will learn much about Marshall Fields and his philosophies. Synopsis: Delia Spencer attends a party the evening of 1871 when the Chicago Fire begins.  She also meets Marshall Fields.  Her family takes refuge north of the city.  What is left? She later marries Percy an old friend.  The marriage does not give her what she most desires a child.  Delia starts to run into Marshall Field again at various gatherings in social set.  She also finds her feelings for Marshall Fields growing.  When Fields decides to deepen his relationship with Delia will the respective spouses agree?   Will Fields be able to give Delia what she most desires?  Does his business operation continue to grow?  What will the future bring? My Thoughts: I loved this novel!  The story telling is so flui

What’s the story behind THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO?  How did the book come to be? I first had the idea for this book 24 years ago! I’m not kidding. In 1992, my husband, actor Robert Hogan, was in an off-Broadway play called On the Bum, also starring Cynthia Nixon and Campbell Scott. The play was set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, several years after the epic flood. The characters talked about a “lake in the sky” which piqued my curiosity. A few days later, I went to the library to read about such strange geography. That’s when I read the real story of the Johnstown disaster. Wow. I was blown away. What a great story! I held my breath for 24 years worrying that someone would write my book before I got a chance to. There are other books out there about the flood, but nothing like mine.  How did you conduct your research for the book?  Are any of the characters in the book inspired by real-life people? While on book tour in Pittsburgh for my first young adult novel, The Serious Kiss

Thank you to Reading with Robin for a copy of The Assistants by Camille Perri.  This novel is one of the best of the summer of 2016.  But is it a top beach read?   Synopsis: Tina Fontana is the assistant to Robert the CEO of Titan.   She often has to pay out of her own pocket for what he considers business expenses.  Tina books an airline reservation and has to use her credit card. Then she files an expense report with the company.  The airline decides to reimburse her anyway after she complained about their customer service.  Should Tina give the money back to Titan or keep it for herself?  When all that Tina can think about is that student loan debt that  just won’t go away.  The tidy sum of $20,000 will take care of the entire balance.  So what happens when another assistant from Titan gets wind of what she has done?  Can Tina help her too?  Will she be helping others?  Is it legal? My Thoughts: I enjoyed this novel.  I think this is a debut novel for Camille Perri