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Thursday, February 28, 2013

"Lady of Ashes" by Christine Trent + giveaway



Lady of Ashes by Christine Trent
Publication Date: February 26, 2013 | Kensington Publishing | 384p
Twitter Hashtag: #LadyOfAshesVirtualTour
"In 1861 London, Violet Morgan is struggling to establish a good reputation for the undertaking business that her husband has largely abandoned. She provides comfort for the grieving, advises them on funeral fashion and etiquette, and arranges funerals.
Unbeknownst to his wife, Graham, who has nursed a hatred of America since his grandfather soldiered for Great Britain in the War of 1812, becomes involved in a scheme to sell arms to the South. Meanwhile, Violet receives the commission of a lifetime: undertaking the funeral for a friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. But her position remains precarious, especially when Graham disappears and she begins investigating a series of deaths among the poor. And the closer she gets to the truth, the greater the danger for them both…"

I've recently become re-obsessed with the Victorian era and was eager to snap up Lady of Ashes. Another plus is the fact that Christine Trent and her books are wonderful! The entire concept of a female undertaker in 1861 was fascinating. Victorians were notably obsessed with death, but a female in this profession would have been quite odd. Our MC is Violet, who has married into the undertaking business but her husband is a bit of a deadbeat which leaves Violet in charge. When she discovers a string of mysterious deaths and sets out to investigate, Violet finds herself in some crazy scenarios (a train crash, overseeing Queen Victoria's husband's funeral, some sort of American gang scheme, and fighting a tiger). Despite all of this, she still is a very believable character (yes, even the tiger). You sympathize with her as a woman struggling against social norms and trying to survive after her husband disappears.

Christine Trent's books seem to all follow the same exact pattern, yet with fresh and lively characters and locations for each book. As Lady of Ashes is set in the time period of the Civil War, it was interesting to get a British perspective of the American war. Every now and then I would get disoriented with the constant jumping around from character to character, but each offered a fresh viewpoint. If you are interested in the Victorian era like me, Lady of Ashes gets us a good glimpse into the life, customs, and people of the time. It was an adventure from beginning to end! This is the first in a mystery series and I am excited to see where the next book begins.


Giveaway!
I have a copy of Lady of Ashes to give away to one of you!
To enter, simply leave a way to contact you in a comment below.
You have until March 6th to enter.
USA only, please (I'm a poor college graduate!).
Good luck!

35 comments:

  1. Oooh, this one sounds intriguing. I'd love to read it. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Susan
    blogginboutbooksATgmailDOTcom

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  2. I have been wanting to read this for a while. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Kendal
    kinxsbooknook@gmail.com

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  3. This is on my wish list; thanks for the giveaway!

    marykate dot sullivan711 at gmail dot com

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  4. Thanks so much for the giveaway! This is on my wish list :)

    marykate dot sullivan711 at gmail dot com

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  5. This sounds so good! A female undertaker in Victorian England...come on!!! Thanks for the chance to win a copy!

    candc320@gmail.com

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  6. I love reading about the Victorian era and this one is specially interesting because the main character is an undertaker!! Thank you for this great giveaway.


    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  7. This sounds so good!!

    jacqueline.terbrack@ gmail.com

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  8. I saw this book on goodreads a while back and I knew I had to read it. It has a very interesting story line.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    itisabooklife@gmail.com

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  9. Sounds like a great book! I'd love to win a copy! My email address is lwolfsf at sbcglobal dot net. Thanks!

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  10. I would love a copy of this book! Thank you!

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  11. I love mysteries, but I haven't read a historical one in a long time. This one sounds wonderful and so very interesting. Thanks for the chance to win it.

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

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  12. I would love to win this book! Thanks for the giveaway!

    lafra86 at gmail dot com

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  13. The characters here are just so interesting. It sounds like a great read and I'd love to win a copy. Thanks.

    carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx

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  14. Everytime I see an email from The Broke and the Bookish, I think The Young and the Restless. This sounds like a great read! Thanks for the opportunity.

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  15. What a great idea...Thanks for the chance to win...Dee

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  16. Oh this sounds lovely! It reminds me a little of one of Ann Rinaldi's book....the title escapes me at the moment haha so that is a useless comment.

    Longtime lurker, first-time commenter... rldawson (at) iastate (dot) edu

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  17. Ooo, this one sounds really good! You can email me at
    whiteunicornfic (at) gmail (dot) com

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  18. Thanks for the review and the giveaway, it's on my TBR!
    Emma
    ehc16e at yahoo dot com

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  19. Sounds like a really good read!!
    Thanks for the chance to win!
    natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com

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  20. This book sounds great! noelsbear1(at)gmail(dot)com

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  21. Love the idea of a Victorian female undertaker, reminds me of a Doctor Who episode. tenshiya_lysa at yahoo.com

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  22. Every review I've seen for this book says it's good. I really want to read it. je2kids(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. sounds like something i have to read!!! & i love the cover!!!
    thank you for the giveaway!!

    cyn209 at juno dot com

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  24. simply ashes seems lively and fun!

    EmAnne3000(at)gmail(dot)com

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  25. Very nice review.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  26. I love the Victorian Era too! After this review, I'm looking forward to read this book.
    Btw, the cover is beautiful. Love it!

    Daniela
    daniela.tiemi@gmail.com

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  27. Sounds like a good read!

    tmrtini at gmail dot com

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  28. This book sounds amazing!

    cbanner11@gmail.com

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  29. Love the sound of this Book please enter me!
    Marilyn
    ewatvess@yahoo.com

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  30. I'm officially intrigued!

    bucklingbookshelves (at) gmail (dot) com

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  31. Love the cover! Beautiful and mysterious!
    email-tmdahle@centurytel.net
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  32. Love the cover! Beautiful and mysterious!
    tmdahle@centurytel.net
    Thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  33. If it is not too late I would love to enter my name! Kennedy.lisa.11@gmail.com.

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