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Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Review Tour & #Giveaway for The Renegade Queen by Eva Flynn

Welcome to my stop on the Review Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for The Renegade Queen by Eva Flynn.  Please leave a comment or question for Eva to let her know you stopped by.  You may enter her tour wide giveaway, where one (1) randomly chosen commenter will be awarded a $25 Amazon/BN GC, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You may follow all of the stops on the tour by clicking on the banner above.  The more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.  


The Renegade Queen
By Eva Flynn
Rebellious Times, Book 1

Publisher:  Omega Press
Release Date: December 4, 2015
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: eBook/Print
Length: 328 Pages
ISBN: 978-0996983204
ASIN: B018TOPIH8


Buy Links:  Kindle | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | IndieBound



About the book:


So controversial she was erased from history.

She was the first women to run for President; campaigning before women could vote.

So feared by the powerful, she was thrown in jail on Election Day. 


Her social revolution attracted the outcasts who were left out of the new wealth in New York; the immigrants, the freed slaves, the prostitutes, and the radicals.

Who was she?

This is the true story of Victoria Woodhull.


Excerpt

I was born in September, the sixth of ten children (counting the dead ones), and named after Queen Victoria, who was then in the first year of her reign. When folks asked Mama why her camp meeting baby was named after the British monarch, the answer was “Because one day she will be the Queen of England.” When folks pointed out the obvious, namely that we were poor Americans and did not have a drop of British royal blood, Mama replied, “We pride ourselves on never letting minor details interfere with our grand plans.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Eva was raised on bedtime stories of feminists (the tooth fairy even brought Susan B. Anthony dollars) and daytime lessons on American politics. On one fateful day she discovered two paragraphs about Victoria Woodhull in the WXYZ volume of the World Book Encyclopedia. When she realized that neither of her brilliant parents (a political science professor and a feminist) had never heard of her, it was the beginning of a lifelong fascination not only with Victoria Woodhull but in discovering the stories that the history books do not tell.

Eva was born and raised in Tennessee, earned her B.A. in Political Science from DePauw in Greencastle, Indiana and still lives in Indiana. Eva enjoys reading, classic movies, and travelling. She loves to hear from readers, you may reach her at eva@rebellioustimes.com.

Twitter: @evaflyn
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EvaFlynnAuthor/ 



One of the most important lessons I learned as a history major in college is that history is written by the victors.  This is clearly true in regards to the life and historical importance of Victoria Woodhull, a woman whose radical ideas and political determination have made many of the rights women have today possible.  The Renegade Queen by Eva Flynn is a well written fictional account of Victoria’s life which truly captures the unique person she was and brings her story to life.  If you like historical fiction, and want to really know what life was like for women before equal rights, then this is book you must read.

Ms. Flynn does a wonderful job bringing Victoria’s character to life; born in abject poverty, abused by her father and neglected by her mother, Victoria managed to become a woman who would pave the way for generations of future women.  I easily connected with Victoria from the first page; she’s intelligent, determined, and almost completely fearless.  I absolutely despised her father, Rueben Claflin, who was both an alcoholic and a con man, and would have felt sorry for her mother Roxanna, who was illiterate, except for the fact that she never seemed to care about what her husband did to their children.  It’s truly remarkable that Victoria became the woman she was with her poor beginnings.


Ms. Flynn does an equally good job developing the secondary characters; I especially enjoyed getting to know her sister Tennessee, her daughter Zulu Maude, her son Byron and of course Canning Woodhull and James Blood, the two men who played important roles in her adult life.  Ms. Flynn also does a good job with the historical aspects of the story, especially the early suffragette movement, the political ramifications of Victoria’s ideas and the events which led to Victoria’s legal troubles.  She paints a particularly interesting, and unfortunately very true, picture of the hypocrisy of certain historical figures who went from being co-workers and supporters to enemies due to Victoria’s “radical” ideas (family planning, birth control, “free love”, women’s equality, and the legalization of prostitution for example), which they feared would turn “respectable” society against them.

So who was Victoria Woodhull – a sinner or a saint – a radical or a champion – or just a woman we should all be thankful for?  You’ll have to read The Renegade Queen to find out, I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing who Ms. Flynn chooses to tackle next in her Rebellions Times series.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns




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9 comments:

  1. I love everything I have read so far. On my summer TBR list. (jozywails@gmail.com)

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  2. Thank you for sharing your review :) This book is on my list.

    - Ana M

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  3. What are some things you do to work through writers block?

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  4. Thank you for the review, and it's certainly true that history is written by the victors! Susan B. Anthony was commissioned to write the history of the woman's movement, and what she wrote is considered "definitive" by many historians but leaves out many opposing viewpoints (such as Victoria's). I appreciate your kind words. And I'm working on the sequel, but it is a but slow going. As to Heather's question (although it probably isn't directed to me, but I'll answer it anyway). I just write without judgment. The first few pages I write every morning are terrible, and that's ok, that's what first drafts are supposed to be, but when I force myself to write then I eventually get to a point where my prose is acceptable. And it may be on the third or fourth draft, but that's part of the process. And I eat Cheetos and listen to fun music, that always helps. Writer's block is a bit like depression, you have to fake it until you make it!

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  5. Really great review. I loved the excerpt.

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  6. Great review and teaser - thanks for sharing!

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  7. I enjoyed reading the excerpt and the review. This book sounds like such an interesting and intriguing read. Looking forward to checking out this book.

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