Carrie Callaghan

A LIGHT OF HER OWN is the story about two women. Judith is a painter, and the very first woman to be admitted to the prestigious Haarlem artist's guild. Her best friend Maria is the daughter of Frans de Grebber, who Judith learned painting from. Maria is also Catholic, living in a land where the faith is banned.

A favorite book (and movie) of mine is GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. So, guess I was intrigued when I learned about this book. About women painting in a time I thought there were just male painters. I just had to read the book. And, what an interesting story. Yes, this is a fictional story, but Judith Leyster really was admitted to the prestigious Haarlem artist's guild and it's not that far-fetched that she knew Maria. I greatly enjoyed reading about Maria and Judith in this a world with great religious antagonisms, not to mention a world where women painters was an anomaly. Another thing that I quite enjoyed was that the scheme initiated by Haarlem's powerful men that will affect both Maria and Judith's lives.

I quite enjoyed this book and this is definitely a book to read if you are interested in art or just want a well-written historical fiction.… (altro)

Milly Bennett is an American Journalist who has covered various topics from San Francisco, to Hawaii, to the China Civil War, and now she is in Moscow during the late 1930's. As it is common knowledge, most people are not impressed with Milly's bourgeois personality and no fear of speaking what's on her mind. This is still a time when women are supposed to be seen and not heard, as well as not working in a man's job.

Based on a true person, Milly Bennett traveled all over the world, fighting to reach the top of the journalism ladder in a man's world. Everyday Milly is being defeated by a man telling her no, and she continues to pursue her love of writing even if it is not what will get published. She quickly learns that telling the truth is not what the papers want, and often has gotten her in a few situations during the outbreak of war.

Milly has always struggled with finding a man to settle down with. Often she becomes just another fling or affair for married men, and finally finds a man that agrees to marry. This man however is not who Milly thinks he is, not matter how hard she tries to convince herself he is. Because of this, he gets arrested by the secret police and she is now on a mission to get him released.

After heartbreak and finally coming to terms with the truth of who her husband really was, and what his true love was, Milly finally decides to leave Russia and head to Madrid in search of a new start, and new stories to write. Milly finds herself within the midst of the front line of war, and has finally found men who are wanting her to write their story, and the truth of what's happening, what war is, and the tragedy of the truth of it all.

Thank you to the author, Carrie Callaghan and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for giving me the opportunity to read and review this novel. Milly was quite the adventurer and I read this book in a day. It was very interesting to read about how no matter how many times she was told no, she still pursued getting the truth of what was happening in the world out there.

PS - I LOOOOOVE this cover, Russian architecture is beautiful!… (altro)

I did not know when I accepted this book for review that it was based on a real person. For me that always makes a novel more interesting and it tends to send me off on a researching binge. Sometimes I end up down a reading rabbit hole thanks to what I find and I love that. Salt the Snow introduces Milly Bennet, a journalist who goes to Russia during the Depression to explore the building of Socialism. After the collapse of the financial system in the United States she sees the rebuilding going on and the promise of a new society as something hopeful but as history has shown us post revolution Russia was anything but a glorious experiment.

Milly is a very unique woman for her time as she has this job in the first place and she tends to run through men like water. I can’t say that I liked her as a character. It was hard to be sympathetic with her blind belief in the Russian system that was so obviously not working. It was only when she tried to buck it in support of her husband – a man whose true reality was in front of her but she refused to recognize, much like the political system she was cheerleading – that she started to see things clearly.

The story was a little confusing and for me a few aspects just plain didn’t make sense. But when dealing with real life it is said that truth is stranger than fiction. The writing is not to be faulted; it is compelling and Ms. Callaghan sets her scenes with skill whether it’s a run down apartment in Moscow or a war torn village in Spain. The frigid cold of a Russian winter is felt as the reader walks with a character through the night. I swear I needed my lap blanket while reading!

Arguably Milly Bennett was a woman ahead of her time but it was just hard to get behind her as she seemed to be an unhappy, unpleasant woman. At least for me it’s difficult to fall in love with a book with a main character that you can’t really get behind. What I did enjoy was the obviously well researched forays into life in Russia into life after the Revolution.… (altro)

Millie Bennett is a jet setting, free-spirited journalist in the 1930's. Millie has covered events in San Francisco, Hawaii and war in China. Now, she is in Moscow working for the Moscow Daily News. Millie mostly covers fluff stories and works on translations. However, Millie longs to write stories of the effects of socialism , stories that matter. Millie is able to experience firsthand the issues that arise with the system of government when her Russian husband, Zhenya is arrested. Millie assumes that his arrest is due to a story she wrote and desperately tries to get him out. However, when it is revealed that Zhenya was arrested for lewd behavior, Millie reveals more secrets about her marriage as well as the government.
Salt the Snow introduced me to the fascinating life of the first female war corespondent, Millie Bennett. I never would have imagined that there were female war corespondents in the 1930's, much less one like Millie! I was pulled into her vivacious character in the very first scene with her arrival home from a party. Carrie Callaghan's writing brings 1930's Moscow to life, as despondent as it may be. Millie's spirit never seemed to fit in with the setting. She always seemed to be a bright and animated character in a dreary and repressed place. In the first half of the story, the writing bounces back and forth between before Zhenya was arrested and after before settling into a linear timeline. I found the first half of the story interesting, but not exciting. I was curious about Millie's interactions with the government, especially the police as well as the conditions for the rest of the population in Moscow. I was also questioning whether or not Millie truly realized her husbands secret or was simply hiding it from herself. The pace picked up a bit for me as Millie actions attracted the attention of the police and she decided that what had happened to Zhenya as well as herself needed to be documented, even if it could not be published for a while. From Moscow, Millie escaped to Spain, I wish her story would have been continued there!
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (altro)