Fabulous Fiction Firsts #555 - “All cannot be lost when there is still so much being found” ~ Lemony Snicket

Wed, 09/23/2015 - 11:16pm by muffy

The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley. Art student Kate Darling does not know much about her mother, June. As an orphan, she was adopted by the childless heiress Evelyn Darling who nurtured and coached her to become a world renowned ballerina. A year after June's untimely death in a plane crash, Evelyn (Evie) unburdened herself of a guilty secret to Kate and bequest her with an exquisite drawing of a young woman who looked very much like a young June. This sent a grief-stricken Kate on a quest for the true identity of the woman in the portrait and her connection to her mother.

Her search takes Kate from London to Corsica, to Paris, and eventually to New York, revealing a love story that began in the wild 1920s and was disrupted by war, derailed by circumstances.

"Foley deftly handles narratives by multiple voices that move seamlessly back and forth from the 1920s to 1986, with a vivid section set in Nazi-occupied France, as (the star-crossed lovers) are separated by happenstance, war, and deceptions as painful as they are well meant. A lovely and moving debut."

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Wrote in Silk, Kelli Estes' "brilliant and atmospheric" debut serves as a poignant tale of two women determined to do the right thing, and the power of our own stories.

While exploring her beloved aunt's Orcas Island estate, Inara Erickson comes across an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. Working with Daniel Chin, a local professor of Asian studies, Inara learns the story of the sleeve's creator, Mei Lein, a survivor of the Chinese Exclusion Act, in the late 1800s to rid Seattle of its Chinese community.

Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth and the connection to her own ancestor, one who would soon be commemorated in a city park, forcing her to make an impossible choice.

"Carefully crafted and perfectly paced, the novel takes readers on a deeply satisfying, memorable journey. Part mystery and part romance, the novel is also a fascinating look at an often forgotten period of Pacific Northwest history and a moving reminder of the stories we all share."