Giveaway – each stop on the tour is giving away 1 hard copy of Enza and 3 e-book copies. All you have to do is comment on this post below – leave your e-mail – and I’ll have a random drawing to determine the winners! Also, leave a comment on all of the blogs on the tour for your chance to win either a $25 Amazon gift card or a $10 Amazon gift card!
Other stops on the tour!
And now for information on the book!
Title: Enza
Author: Kristy K. James
Pages: 334 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: April 23, 2012
To purchase your copy: Amazon or for a chance to win a copy, leave a comment below!
For more info: Author’s Website; Twitter; Facebook
Goodreads Summary:
It is a time of innocence and prosperity. The Women’s Suffrage Movement gains more attention with each passing day. All across the country housewives and young ladies harbor hope that they might finally win the right to vote. Patriotism is at its peak as the war to end all wars rages an ocean away.
On the homefront, in a small town in Michigan, life is being lived out like the pages of a Mark Twain novel. Until an unseen enemy, deadlier than any human adversary, threatens Mankind’s very existence.
Elliot Owens – The only thing in the world that matters to Elliot is his wife and their five children, and he will do everything in his power to protect them.
Daniel Pullman – When his plans to join the Army are dashed following an injury, meeting the love of his life makes the disappointment easier to bear.
Colby Thornton – A devoted minister whose congregation loves him nearly as much as he loves them, Colby struggles with bitterness toward the wife who doesn’t love him at all.
Marcus McClelland – One of the local funeral directors, Marcus lives his life avoiding close relationships because if he doesn’t care about anyone, it won’t hurt when he loses them.
Jonathon Owens – At ten years old all Jonathon dreams of is to be a war hero…by proving that his German neighbor is a spy.
When all is said and done, will any of them survive?
A heartbreaking story of a time period I did not know too much about – the time when influenza spread across the globe and killed so many people. Kristy K. James wrote a well-written story about this time period that I got a good feel as to what it was like at that time – the fear of the unknown and the sadness of so many people.
The book is narrated by several different characters so you can see each of their viewpoints. I liked most of the characters – I particularly loved Jonathon – the war hero wannabe (that somehow reminded me of Snoopy versus the Red Baron) – and Elliot – a wonderful papa who goes to have tea with his young daughter. One character that I did not like (besides the minister’s wife) was the minister himself. He just grated on me because of how he felt toward his wife though she was really not a likeable character. It just makes me wonder how he ended up with her in the first place – she must have been a really good actress.
In all, I thought it was a good read. There were times that the story didn’t grip me (particular in the beginning) and there were also a few errors in the book, but I would recommend it, especially to those interested in learning more about this flu epidemic.
3 STARS
Hi, Heather! Thank you so much for taking the time to read Enza and write a review. I always love hearing what people think about the book and characters. I apologize about the errors. I had to send out ARC’s for the blog tour. Hopefully everything is taken care of now. Thanks again! Kristy 🙂
Thanks for posting your review for this tour!
One of the biggest challenges for historical fiction authors is giving the reader a good feel for the time period, so it’s nice to hear that Enza did that.
Hi, Marcy…
Thanks for stopping by to read the review. I agree with you about it being a challenge. And I think the only way to write about other eras with any degree of accuracy is to do lots of research. A lot more than you’ll ever be able to use. Fortunately I love to read about different times in history. 🙂
Hi again, Heather…
I wondered if you had the address for the winner of the paperback copy of Enza yet?
Thanks so much!
Kristy
Kristy, I had sent the e-mail to Stormi. I’ll send it to you as well. Let me know if you need anything further.