The Other World: Blog Tour Book Review, Author Interview, and Giveaway: Until That Distant Day, by Jill Stengl!

I am honoured to be part of the blog tour for Jill Stengl's latest release, Until That Distant Day! It deals with one of my favourite periods in history--the French Revolution.

Colette and her brother Pascoe are two sides of the same coin, dependent upon one another in the tumultuous world of the new Republic. Together they labor with other leaders of the sans-culottes to ensure freedom for all the downtrodden men and women of France.

But then the popular uprisings turn bloody and the rhetoric proves false. Suddenly, Colette finds herself at odds with Pascoe and struggling to unite her fractured family against the lure of violence. Charged with protecting an innocent young woman and desperately afraid of losing one of her beloved brothers, Colette doesn’t know where to turn or whom to trust as the bloodshed creeps ever closer to home.

Until that distant day when peace returns to France, can she find the strength to defend her loved ones . . . even from one another?

Jill Stengl is the author of numerous romance novels including Inspirational Reader's Choice Award- and Carol Award-winning Faithful Traitor, and the bestselling novella, Fresh Highland Heir. She lives with her husband in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she enjoys her three cats, teaching a high school English Lit. class, playing keyboard for her church family, and sipping coffee on the deck as she brainstorms for her next novel.

She blogs at Books, Cats, and Whimsy. Do stop by and follow her to keep up with all her writing and reading-related activities!

"Jill Stengl is one of the rare authors with the ability to transport the reader to another world--a delightfully rich world of scent and sight and sound.” – Kim Vogel Sawyer, bestselling author of Echoes of Mercy

“Award-winning author Jill Stengl has created her greatest work yet in the inspiring and moving Until That Distant Day.” Jill Eileen Smith, bestselling author of the Wives of King David series.

And now you can get it for only .99 cents!

MINI-REVIEW:

As of yet, I have not finished the book (alas!). When I do, expect a full review to be posted here. But right now, I can highlight my favourite aspects:

1. The setting: the food, the culture, the geography. Collette reads like someone living in the time she's in.

2. Collette herself. I was surprised when I read that the main character was someone in her late twenties. This is a point of view I rarely get to read, and it was so refreshing! Collette is someone who has already seen much of life, has made mistakes, and has been affected by them. To me, she is far more intriguing than someone just setting out on her adventures. She has a mysterious air to her.

3. The largeness of Collette's family. I love it when authors write about large families and make them realistic. The siblings read like true people--related through blood but divided by their individual choices. Stengl does not try to create a false unity, and I applaud her for this!

4. The historical moments. Though I learned about the French Revolution in high school, there's a difference between reading a textbook and peeking into the world through the eyes of someone who lives in it. Things I remember from class were far more interesting, and I got excited when I recognized certain people, places, or events.

If any of what I have described catches your interest, definitely give this book a look!!!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW!

As part of this blog tour, Jill Stengl generously offered to answer blogger questions. Here is my question and her answer:

Q: Do any historical figures from the French Revolution make an appearance in your novel and/or your main characters influenced or inspired by any particular historical figures?

A: None of my main characters are based on real people, but they mention several historical figures by name, including General Lafayette, Georges Jacques Danton, Legendre the butcher, Pétion the mayor of Paris, General Dumouriez, and, of course, Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette, and their children.

The one direct historical quote I used is that of the commander of the Swiss Guard at the Palais des Tuileries on August 10, a courageous man who refused to leave his post without the king’s order. (The order to return to barracks arrived too late to save them.) You might be interested in this article about the monument in honor of the Swiss Guard, located in Lucerne, Switzerland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Monument

So very sad!

Thank you for the interesting question, Beka! And thank you for joining my blog tour.

GIVEAWAY!!!