On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen’s infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh’s secret keeper, boss and truest friend.

• •      • •       • •     • •

War. A book on war.  This is not exactly a topic I leap for when I see books like this hit the shelf.  But saying a book like this, isn’t a fair synopsis – because this book is a different book on war… and the draw for me to this book, like a month to a flame – was her.  Was Helen and her story.

Helen Adams is an American War Photographer and she finds herself in Vietnam, going to where her brother had died and getting a feel of what the soldiers like him experience on a day-to-day basis.

Helen steps into her role willingly and naively and as the book takes us through the eyes of a photographer.  I as a reader, and Helen as a person – grew…  Opening up this book I learn that we are beginning with the end in mind …. we know the outcome and then we are taken back into the war to see how we got there. And The Lotus Eaters brings you to the front line. I found the book to be engaging and I wanted to know how Helen and the man she comes to love, Linh, get to where the book begins.

The characters are well brought out and I quickly found myself becoming attached to several of them.  I wanted to know where they were going, and if they would survive.  Truly an author for detail, Tatjana Soli left nothing to the imagination as I experienced Viet Nam through her words.  At times my breath caught in my throat as the details unfolded.

The vivid images that author Tatjana Soli paints of a war will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  I will be holding on to this story that was heartwarming and heart-wrenching all rolled into the combined pages of The Lotus Eaters.

Tatjana Soli is a novelist and short story writer. Born in Salzburg, Austria, she attended Stanford University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. Her stories have appeared in The Sun, StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, Gulf Coast, Other Voices, Nimrod, Third Coast, Carolina Quarterly, Sonora Review and North Dakota Quarterly among other publications. Her work has been twice listed in the 100 Distinguished Stories in Best American Short Stories and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She was awarded the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Prize, the Dana Award, finalist for the Bellwether Prize, and received scholarships to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She lives with her husband in Orange County, California, and teaches through the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours

America is on the brink of war with England, and Fin Button is about to come undone. She’s had it with the dull life of the orphanage, and she’s ready to marry Peter and get away from rules, chores, and a life looked after by the ever-watchful Sister Hilde. But an unexpected friendship forms between Fin and the fiddle-playing cook, Bartimaeus, which sets her on a course for revolution.

With Bart’s beloved fiddle and haunting blunderbuss as her only possessions, Fin discovers her first taste of freedom as a sailor aboard the Rattlesnake. She’s hiding some dark secrets, but there are bigger problems for the crew—they are on the run from the Royal Navy, and whispers of mutiny are turning the captain into a tyrant.

When Fin finally returns home, will she find Peter still waiting, or will she find that she’s lost everything she once held dear?

I have been a long time fan of The Rabbit Room.  I love everything it stands for, and the people who frequent it with delightful posts and quirky down to earth comments…. it is a luxury for me to lurk there… occasionally coming out of the shadows to post a comment on something I feel passionate about.

Who knew that passionate comment would be about a book…. a book called The Fiddler’s Gun?  Certainly not me.

When I initially read about The Fiddler’s Gun in a little post at The Rabbit Room something about the book called to me.  The title…. holds mystery.  What could the Fiddler’s Gun be?  Who is the Fiddler?

So my adventure began.  I entered totally unprepared for what I would find within the pages of this book.  If I should have brought a weapon (and in hindsight perhaps I should have) after all, was I not entering into a war?

And with that – I leaped into the book and met an unlikely lady, Fin, who was more tom boy than girl…. more so just one of the guys and liked it that way at the orphanage she called home.  Usually clad in dirty clothes with a dirty face and hair – I instantly took a liking to her… she reminded me of the tomboy I was growing up.  “Go Team Fin!”

Phineas Button is her full name and she is the 13th female born in a family where her father really really wanted a boy.  This is how we find Fin within a few pages of this read at the orphanage.  You can imagine what a chip this girl carries on her shoulders.

Along with Fin, entered her sidekick in all things prankish, Peter, a beloved friend and confidant Bartimaeus who hold secrets that reach beyond the pages of this book, and a couple of Nun Sisters who try as they may could not mold Fin into who they felt she should be.   And within this motley crew of character…. a story blooms…

I don’t want to give too much away so I am just going to tell you there is a lot of action, fantastic and well developed characters, pirates, and…. oops… I have said to much 😉

Written is an adventurous way, this book wove its way into my heart with a little bit of laughter along the way, and in the end, even a few tears.  I look forward with eager anticipation to the conclusion of this story and answering the questions I am so eager for answers to, in The Fiddler’s Green.

You can purchase your copy of this book here at The Rabbit Room

The Fiddler’s Gun is available to book clubs with some special bonuses. There’s a study guide for download on the website, each book club gets bookmarks specially printed with the name of the club, as well as free digital copies of the companion book The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters which is a compilation of letters, log entries, and other interesting items telling of further adventures of Fin and her crew during the storyline of the main book, there is also a special link where book club members can purchase the book for $4 off the cover price, or to save on shipping, clubs can order in bulk.

MY AMAZON RATING

I received my copy for review from the author