Sep 1, 2015

Book Feature and Giveaway: THE GILDED HOUR by Sara Donati

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read.

The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati, published September 1, 2015 by Berkley....
First paragraph, first chapter:
Early on a March morning on the cusp of spring, Anna Savard came in from the garden to find a young woman with a message that would test her patience, disrupt her day, and send her off on an unexpected journey: a harbinger of change wearing the nursing habit of the Sisters of Charity, standing in the middle of the kitchen.
Book description:

"... a remarkable epic about two female doctors in nineteenth-century New York and the transcendent power of courage and love.
The year is 1883 in New York City, a time of dizzying splendor, crushing poverty, and tremendous change. With the gravity-defying Brooklyn Bridge nearly complete and New York in the grips of anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, Anna Savard and her cousin Sophie—both graduates of the Woman’s Medical School—treat the city’s most vulnerable.


Anna's work has placed her in the path of four children who have lost everything. For Sophie, an obstetrician and the orphaned daughter of free people of color, helping a desperate young mother ...thrusts her and Anna into the orbit of Anthony Comstock, a dangerous man who considers himself the enemy of everything indecent and of anyone who dares to defy him.
With its vivid depictions of old New York and its appealing characters, The Gilded Hour is an emotionally gripping novel by the author of Into the Wilderness." (goodreads)


BOOK GIVEAWAY 
The publisher is offering a copy of the book to a U.S. resident in a giveaway on this blog.
To enter, please email Harvee Lau at harvee44@yahoo.com by September 5, 2015, with the heading GILDED GIVEAWAY. 

A winner will be chosen at random and notified by email on Sept. 6 with a request to forward a mailing address. A new winner will be chosen on Sept. 8 if there is no reply. Good luck!

10 comments:

  1. Ooh this sounds very good, I do love the unusual starting point for this historical novel - I'm sure you'll have lots of entrants for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not much of a one for historical fiction but I do like the sound of this. Also, I think I would learn something about female doctors and their struggles. Would carry on reading.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm, I'm on the fence about whether I would read on on this one. At least another couple of pages. I prefer suspense to knowing what is about to happen, and this paragraph is heavy on that. Happy reading!


    My beginning is over here if you're interested: http://www.bookpunks.com/so-it-begins-signal-to-noise-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have this one on my radar -- and I really like the opener.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice intro and an author I've enjoyed in the past. Got to check this one out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The opening paragraph drew me right in and then your description cinched it for me. I'd like to read this one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margo, To enter the giveaway, email me at harvee44@yahoo.com and head your email Gilded Contest. Good luck!

      Delete
  7. Oh, this one does sound good, and I immediately want to know what happens next. Thanks for sharing. Here's mine: “DRIVING LESSONS”

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really like the opening--and then to find out the book is historical fiction about two female doctors! I'm there! I hope it's good.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oooh - this sounds interesting! I'd keep reading.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and thoughts...

Three Novels: Japanese Mystery; Family Drama; Ecuadorian

  Books in the mail The Night of Baba Yaga  by Akira Otani (translated from the Japanese). July 2, 2024, Soho Crime This is an unusual novel...