Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Nov 22

15

Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on November 15, 2022
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2022 • Immigrant Experience • Literary Fiction  | Tagged With: , , , , | 1 Comment

Soulful Return by Fidelis O. MkparuSoulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (November 22, 2022)
Category: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, African-American Fiction, Immigrant Experience
Tour Dates November 2-23
ISBN: 978-1955065603
Available in Print and ebook, 332 pages

Soulful Return

Description Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


“The hounding voice inside me would not let go.”

Thus begins the emotional journey of Afamefuna Onochie Nwaku, a Harvard-trained medical doctor with a career most can only dream of, a loving wife, and supportive family. Then, he receives a telephone call from his sister who lives in Nigeria that her life is being threatened.

Left with no other fair choice, Afam leaves behind his family, throwing his marriage into turmoil and risking the life he has built in Boston. Instead of the Nigeria that he loves, that he needs, he finds a land and people he barely recognizes waiting for him. Afam decides to stay but realizes that his future in Nigeria is as murky as the River-Niger after a torrential tropical rainfall.

As Afam sets out on a journey to reconnect with the family and heritage that he left behind, he must face new enemies in an increasingly corrupt Nigeria where many people see him as an American intruder. And through it all, he must fight to keep his family together—and alive.

My Thoughts Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Afamefuna Onochie Nwaku left his homeland and family in Nigeria to attend Harvard medical school to become a doctor.  It was always expected by his family that he would return to his homeland one day to take over the running of his family lands. In the meantime, he built his career, married, and had children in Boston.

Now he is 60 years-old.  He is offered the CEO position in Boston Medical Center and his wife wants him to accept the position.  It was such an honor to be offered the top position!   However, he is also yearning for Nigeria.

His father passed away 25 years ago and that was the last time he was in Nigeria. Then he receives a call from his sister.  Their cousin is trying to claim his father’s lands.  He goes against his wife’s wishes and takes a sabbatical from work and goes to Nigeria.

He finds it has changed and not for the better.  At every turn he runs into corrupt police, just trying to make his way home to his sister.  Then when he gets there, his cousins are there and demanding “they get what’s there’s”

You will have to read the book to find out what happens as I do not want to give away spoilers.  Fidelis O. Mkparu’s writing is hypnotizing, making it hard to put the book down.  He captures the Nigerian land and people with his poetic prose.  His characters are well fleshed out and grabbed me through the pages and transported me. I will be thinking about this book and its characters for a very long time to come, they will not let go!  I highly recommend you read ‘Soulful Return’!

Awards and Praise for Fidelis O. Mkparu


2018 EVVY winner, Literary & Contemporary Fiction for Tears Before Exaltation.

Silver Medal: Nautilus Book Awards, Fiction 2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Reader Views Literary Award Winner 2015/2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Finalist 2015: INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, Multicultural Fiction for Love’s Affliction.

“A must-read, Love’s Affliction is an exceptionally gripping and poignant story. While intense throughout, there is resolution – and not quite what one may expect!”—San Francisco Book Review

“An exceptionally well crafted work, “Love’s Affliction” is an engaging and extraordinary multi-cultural novel that documents author Fidelis O. Mkparu as a talented, first class storyteller. “Love’s Affliction” is very highly recommended for personal reading lists and would prove to be a valued addition to community library Contemporary Fiction collections.”—Midwest Book Review

About Fidelis O. Mkparu Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Multi award winning author, Fidelis O. Mkparu is a Nigerian immigrant in the U.S. who wishes to speak to his experiences and those of his fellow immigrants. He is a professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a senior attending cardiologist at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. Previously, he was a Spaulding fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

His preceding novels include Love’s Affliction and Tears Before Exaltation.

Website: https://fidelismkparu.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fidelismkparu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fidelis.mkparu

Preorder Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


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Giveaway Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

May 21

29

Prohibition Wine by Marian Leah Knapp-Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on May 29, 2021
Posted in Biography • Immigrant Experience • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , | 4 Comments

Prohibition Wine by Marian KnappProhibition Wine: A True Story of One Woman’s Daring in Twentieth-Century America by Marian Knapp

Thanks to Keely Bomee Platte of Sparkpoint Studio, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Prohibition Wine’ by Marian Knapp.

Description Prohibition Wine by Marian Knapp


In 1918, Rebecca Goldberg―a Jewish immigrant from the Russian Empire living in rural Wilmington, Massachusetts―lost her husband, Nathan, to a railroad accident, a tragedy that left her alone with six children to raise. To support the family after Nathan’s death, Rebecca continued work she’d done for years: keeping chickens. Once or twice a week, with a suitcase full of fresh eggs in one hand and a child in the other, she delivered her product to relatives and friends in and around Boston.

Then, in 1920―right at the start of Prohibition―one of Rebecca’s customers suggested that she start selling alcoholic beverages in addition to her eggs to add to her meagre income. He would provide his homemade raw alcohol; Rebecca would turn it into something drinkable and sell it to new customers in Wilmington. Desperate to feed her family and keep them together, and determined to make sure her kids would all graduate from high school, Rebecca agreed―making herself a wary participant in the illegal alcohol trade.

Rebecca’s business grew slowly and surreptitiously until 1925, when she was caught and summoned to appear before a judge. Fortunately for her, the chief of police was one of her customers, and when he spoke highly of her character before the court, all charges were dropped. Her case made headline news―and she made history.

Praise Prohibition Wine by Marian Knapp


“Knapp’s (Aging in Places, 2014) latest project reads like the makings of a movie…”―Booklist

“[A]n important and informative story about Eastern European Jewish immigrants of the era. An often engaging and atypical historical biography.”―Kirkus Reviews

“Prohibition Wine is Marian Leah Knapp’s compact, elegant biography of her grandmother, an immigrant who forayed in bootlegging.” ―Foreword Review

About Marian Knapp


Prohibition Wine by Marian Knapp

(c) Vivien Goldman, Photographer

Marian Leah Knapp is a writer and community activist. Her previously published books include Aging in Places: Reflective Preparation for the Future, A Steadfast Spirit: The Essence of Caregiving, and, with Vivien Goldman, The Outermost Cape: Encountering Time. For more than ten years, she has written a regular column for the Newton TAB. When Marian was sixty-four years old, she went back to school to obtain a PhD. She passed her dissertation defense right before her seventieth birthday. Marian lives in Chestnut Hill, MA.

Buy Prohibition Wine by Marian Knapp


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Giveaway Prohibition Wine by Marian Knapp

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on June 11, 2021 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
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Jun 20

18

Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on June 18, 2020
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2020 • Immigrant Experience  | Tagged With: , , | 2 Comments

Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. PresslyUnlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly

Publisher:  She Writes Press (May 5, 2020)
Category: Memoir
Tour Dates June and July, 2020
ISBN: 978-1631528620
Available in Print and ebook, 224 pages
Unlocking by Nancy L. Pressly

Description Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly


While recovering from a near fatal illness, Nancy Pressly discovers a treasure trove of family material stored in her attic. Haunted by images of her grandparents and her parents in their youth, she sets out to create a family narrative before it is lost forever. It takes several more years before she summons the courage to reconstitute a path back to her own past, slowly pulling back the veil of amnesia that has, until now, all but obliterated her memory of her childhood.

In this sensitive and forgiving meditation on the meaning of family, Pressly unravels family dynamics and life in a small rural town in the 1950s that so profoundly affected her―then moves forward in time, through to her adulthood. With an eye attuned to visual detail, she relates how she came into her own as a graduate student in the tumultuous sixties in New York; examines how she assumed the role of caretaker for her family as she negotiated with courage and resilience the many health setbacks, including her own battle with pancreatic-related cancer, that she and her husband encountered; and evokes her interior struggle as a mother as she slowly traverses the barriers of expectations, self-doubt, and evolving norms in the 1980s to embrace a remarkable life as a scholar, champion of contemporary art, and nationally recognized art museum strategic planning consultant. Full of candor and art-inspired insight, Unlocking leaves the reader with a deep appreciation of the power of art and empathy and the value of trying to understand one’s life journey.

My Thoughts Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly


‘Unlocking’ is a memoir not just about finding your family, but finding yourself as well. When Nancy Pressly was diagnosed with cancer in her late-60’s, she decided to spend some time organizing her home and going through the old, untouched boxes in her attic. What she found there was not only the story of her family but a rich tapestry of love and life that took place over generations. Pressly decided to write her family’s story in this memoir and I am so glad she did because reading this was an absolute treat! I haven’t had my emotions stirred by a memoir like this in quite a long time.

Pressly’s family were originally from Eastern Europe, but came to America in the early 1900’s to get away from increasing anti-Semitism and the discriminatory laws of the time. After they got to America, they faced more turbulent waters as Jewish immigrants living in the sometimes unfriendly turn of the century New York City.

This memoir made me think about my grandparents on both sides who came to America also in the early 1900’s but from Russia, to escape anti-Semitism. I only wish there were a treasure to discover, and Pressly uncovered.  My grandparents wouldn’t talk about it so I know very little.  I can only imagine from stories I have heard from others.

Pressly’s family, like any family, had both good and bad times and this memoir reflects both in beautifully written detail. But, as I said, this is not just a story about the author’s family, but a transformative tale about the author herself and how learning about her family’s past impacted her view of the future.

Having so recently gone through a battle with cancer, Pressly seemed to view the entire research process with a lot of fervor and what resulted is an incredibly in depth portrait of Jewish refugees in early 20th century America.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves memoirs and history. As a lover of both I was enraptured from start to finish. Nancy Pressly had a wonderful and interesting story to tell and she did it with the delicacy of a loving descendant. I give it 5 out 5.

About Nancy L. Pressly


Unlocking : Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly

(c)Atlanta Portrait Photography

Nancy L. Pressly, a graduate of Goucher College, received her master’s degree in Art History from Columbia University. She began her career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and subsequently held curatorial positions at the Yale Center for British Art and the San Antonio Museum of Art, where she organized several important exhibitions, most notably the acclaimed Fuseli Circle in Rome: Early Romantic Art of the 1770s.
In 1984 she became Assistant Director of the Museum Program at the National Endowment for the Arts; was a visiting Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts during the fall of 1992; and in 1993 founded Nancy L. Pressly & Associates, a nationally recognized consulting firm specializing in strategic planning for art museums. She has authored numerous publications, most recently a book titled Settling the South Carolina Backcountry (2016.) She and her husband live in Atlanta, Georgia, close to their son and two grandchildren.

Website:  https://nancylpressly.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyLPresslyauthor/

Buy Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly


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Giveaway Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly


This giveaway is for 3 print copies open to the U.S. only. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends August 1, 2020,midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Unlocking: Memoir of Family and Art by Nancy L. Pressly

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