Dear Caroline Preston, author of The War Bride's Scrapbook

Dear Caroline Preston,

You hold a special place in my heart. I've always been a reader, but before I started blogging, I wasn't nearly as aware of all the new release books. When I was in high school, I discovered your first novel, Jackie by Josie, on the new release shelf at my local public library and checked it out. I loved it. I'm still drawn to fictional depictions of real women, and I loved that as much as the book was about Jackie O, it was more about Josie and her research. Your second novel, Lucy Crocker 2.0, about a woman who designs video games despite having no knowledge of technology, lived on my shelves for years (and moved a few times) before I finally stayed up late to read it at my mother-in-law's house the week Mr. Nomadreader and I moved to New York in 2008. I love when books stick in my mind so clearly I remember where I was when I read it.
When The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt came out in 2011, I read it immediately and loved it. I gave my mother a copy for Christmas that year too.

I was thrilled to see you had another novel in pictures in 2017. I was so excited to read it, I read an early copy in July 2017 and never reviewed it. Partly, it's because I wasn't really blogging much in 2017. But it's also because I didn't know how to write about it in a traditional review because it, like The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, is so unique. It's a novel, but it's mostly told through mixed media. It's not quite a graphic novel either. Regardless of how I'd classify it, I think what I love most about this type of storytelling is how intimate and historic it feels. It doesn't feel like I'm reading fiction; it feels like I'm looking at the scrapbook of someone else's grandma.

I don't know what the future holds for your writing, but I know I'll be in line to read it, whether you return to traditional novels or stick with novels in pictures. Cheers to twenty years of reading your books.

Loyally,
Nomadreader

Rating: 4 out of 5
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: December 5, 2017
Source: publisher

Want to read for yourself? Buy The War Bride's Scrapbook from Amazon (Kindle edition.)

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