My latest podcast is up on the New Books Network website! In it, I interview June Purvis about her new biography of the British suffragist Christabel Pankhurst (which I reviewed here). Enjoy!

Title: June: A Novel
Author: Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Publisher: Crown
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: 4.5
Review:

"June" by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

My Thoughts.....

A read that will go back and forth from 2015 where we get Cassie's story and back to 1955 to June's story where the storyline centers around Cassie Danvers inherited her grandmothers old mansion that was call 'Two Oaks' [covering two time periods] in St Jude, Ohio. I found this author's writing style was beautiful in how she delivers to the reader the details about this house [[definitely the picture taking]. But after all is said and done this house is falling down with overdue bills and it all looked quite a downward spiral for Cassie until she answers her door and finds Nick on her doorstep telling her that someone had left her '37 million dollars, some property and an island [from the fortune of Jack Morgan, a very wealthy and famous Hollywood actor]. Now, what was all of this about? Why did they want her to take a DNA test to prove she was related? And a question that came to me was why didn't Cassie want to take this test? Wouldn't that have solved some of the problems presented regarding this situation? Now, what happens when the DNA test come in? Wow! This story will get quite interesting in what Cassie says she will and will not do. What all will happen when Tate, Nick and Hank along with Jack Morgan's famous daughters have come to Two Oaks to live with her for a period of time? The story gets even more interesting as the story switches from Cassie to what had happen with her grandmother June. The big question is what is the big secret about her grandmother's past? I found the two time periods will keep you guessing to what all is going on all the way to the very end of this story. This is truly one read that you will not get it until the end and I liked the way this author presented it to the readers. The characters [Cassie, Tate, Elda, Nick, Hank, June, Jack Lindie & Apatha] were mostly likable however I did find a few others I did not care for. But for the most part most the characters were well portrayed and even believable giving the reader a story where many things happened with the 'many revelations, blackmail, mystery, personal sacrifice, secrets, Hollywood glamour, family drama, to murder' where the list will go on and on giving a reader one heck of a intriguing and captivating dual timeline story. By the time I got to the end of the novel I felt that the read did lack something... even though Cassie may have lived up to its promises...I was left thinking there had been too many secrets even though they were revealed in the end but did I miss something? So, this is where I would definitely recommend you pick up this novel and see for yourself if you will get all of the expectations you thought were needed at the end.