In 1941 Seattle, young Grace Vandenberg’s life was turned upside down when she discovered that her boyfriend Joel had time-traveled his way into her life directly from the year 2000. Convinced that their futures couldn’t be aligned, Joel left her to return to his century, but Grace, refusing to give up on the power of love, is determined to follow him. In a mind-boggling new era of cell phones and computers Grace settles into a blissful life with Joel, but her now perfect world is shaken anew when a trip to a newly-restored historic theater sends her all the way back to the year 1918. As she witnesses her teenage parents’ first meetings and falls in love with a handsome Army captain, Grace must make sense of the life she’s stumbled into and come to terms with the cold truth: she may never see Joel or the new millennium ever again.
In The Show, the direct sequel to his debut The Mine and the third in his Northwest Passage series, John A. Heldt proves himself once again as a masterful storyteller. He has, for the third time, woven heart-stirring romance, beautifully detailed history, and the ever-complex device of time-travel into what may be his most satisfying novel so far. While The Show is a perfect compliment to is predecessor, it stands handsomely on its own and offers new insights on yet different topics of life: love, loss, motherhood, and family. Grace was a stellar supporting character in The Mine and it’s a delight to see her take center stage here. She blossoms into a very strong, capable heroine with a passion that the reader will instantly appreciate. Plucky and resilient, she illuminates the power of the female spirit as a wife, mother, daughter, and friend. She is supported by a highly memorable cast from the earliest part of the 20th century: sassy twins Lucy and Edith, compassionate Uncle Alistair, and the kind, charismatic Captain Walker, among many others. Against the believably rendered backdrop of 1918 their story cocoons the reader easily as it unfolds.
It takes a special talent to juggle the many facets of The Show. Heldt continues to handle the element of time-travel well, always delivering it in a pleasingly realistic way, and he shows consistent ability with the depth of detail that is required when writing about different eras. Succeeding further yet with genuinely felt romance, myriad emotions, and profound life lessons, The Show easily finds its home in the reader’s heart with little intention of traveling away anytime soon.
Title: The Show
Author: John A. Heldt
Genre: Historical fiction, romance
Publisher: John A. Heldt
Available Formats: e-book
Release date: February 16, 2013
Provided by: John A. Heldt (c/o)
Buy the book: Kindle
Connect with the author: Website/Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Shelfari
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This week in fiction, Khaled Hosseini makes his long-awaited return with And the Mountains Echoed, his first novel since A Thousand Splendid Suns in 2007. There are also new debuts, including Patricio Pron’s My Fathers’ Ghost is Climbing in the Rain. Additionally, J.R.R. Tolkien’s never-before-published The Fall of Arthur is finally available, as edited by Christopher Tolkien. In mystery, Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series continues with The Redeemer, its original sixth installment, and Alex Grecian follows up on last year’s The Yard with The Black Country, a return to Scotland Yard’s murder squad. Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg have teamed up for Pros and Cons, a new e-novella, and ABC’s ficticious Richard Castle launches the full Derrek Storm series with Storm Front. In nonfiction, brothers Deepake and Sanjiv Chopra explore their journey from India to America in the memoir Brotherhood. In young adult, Susane Colasanti and Jennifer Brown offer new contemporary fiction, and John Grisham’s Theodore Boone series returns with The Activist. New to paperback are B.A. Shapiro’s acclaimed novel The Art Forger, Bernhard Schlink’s collection of stories Summer Lies, Michelle Moran The Second Empress, Janet Evanovich’s Wicked Business, Claire Cook’s Wallflower in Bloom, and many more.
In the late 16th century, a band of Portuguese Jews sought refuge in Turkey under the protection of Suleiman the Magnificent, the most celebrated Sultan in the Ottoman Empire. Among those escaping persecution were noble widow Doña Antonia Nissim, her daughter Reyna, and her nephew Jose. Faced with the truth of their Jewish heritage for the first time in their lives, Reyna and Jose connect with each other and find love and comfort in Turkey. Years later, their daughter Tamar falls in love with the Sultan’s son, Murat; the two vow to spend the rest of their lives together despite the oppositions of their families and the obstacles of classism and religion that stand in their way. They remain committed to their shared determination until the tensions escalade between their families and Tamar vanishes. Mad with devastation, Murat assumes his role in the Ottoman Empire and sparks what will become known as The Sultan’s Curse, a plague that affects his every descendant. Fast-forward to present-day Turkey and Selim Osman, a wildly successful real estate magnate and the grandson of the last Osman Sultan. In the prime of his life, Selim has the world at his feet until fate deals him a cruel blow: a shocking and life-altering diagnosis. Abandoning his life in Turkey, Selim turns to a Manhattan hospital in the hope of a cure; here he meets Hannah, a spirited young painter whose father is fighting a medical battle of his own. As Selim and Hannah start to understand the depth of their connection they’ll rejoin a love once lost and finally bring two fates together after decades of dormant solitude.
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I’m a blogger of eight years, a self-taught graphic designer and a voracious reader since my very first mastering of The Foot Book. I live in New England where I can be found up to my eyebrows in books, with Dean Martin on the stereo and a glass of wine in hand.
