The Seed Woman: heavy on historical details, light on story

The Seed Woman by Petra Durst-Benning (translated by Edwin Miles) is the first book of the Seed Trader’s Saga. Set in Gonningen, a village in the Swabian Mountains of Germany where seed trading is the main source of income for its residents in the 1850s. A young woman, Hannah Brettschneider, travels from Nuremberg to find Helmut Kerner, the eldest son of the wealthy Kerner family. She’s pregnant and Helmut is the father. Problem? He’s engaged to be married to Seraphine Schwarz. Helmut quickly marries Hannah and eventually Valentin, his brother, marries Seraphine as he has long loved her despite her affections for his brother. As everyone lives under one roof, jealousy and manipulations begin as the brothers plan to expand their business into other regions. Hannah begins to show interest in the seed trade and offer new ways to conduct business. Will they listen to Hannah, an outsider, and try her new methods? Will the business flourish?

I labored through this book. Pushing myself to finish it. I made it through 60% of the book when a particular scene made me stop. It would so disturbing and unsettling that I didn’t want to continue. I realized that I didn’t care about the characters, especially Seraphine who was a bitch as she treats Valentin horribly and plots to worm her way back into Helmut’s heart, who didn’t love her in the first place and saw Hannah’s arrival as a blessing in disguise. The details of the regions and the seed trade are extensive and beautiful. I liked Hannah as the hardworking outsider who shows the village that there are other ways to do things. And she was the only character I liked. I do not recommend The Seed Woman. It is one of those historical novels where the historical details are extensive with very little or unexciting action.

The Seed Woman

is available in paperback and eBook

Stars over Sunset Boulevard: a friendship forged during an iconic movie

Stars over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner is the story of two women who become roommates and friends, each with their own reasons for coming to Hollywood. Violet Mayfield is 22 years old from Alabama. She has come to work in the secretarial pool at the Selznick International Studios. She meets Audrey Duvall, 30 years old another secretary, who dreams of bright lights and her name on the marquee. They are working for the studio during the filming of one of the greatest films of our time, Gone With the Wind. Although at the time, the film is doomed to be a failure, Violet is recruited to be an assistant on the set as Audrey chases her dream of becoming an actress. Enter Bert Redmond, a costume assistant on the film and not so secretly in love with Audrey. Their friendships will stand a test when Violet and Bert fall in love. One night, after a night of heavy drinking, one of the green carpet hat that Scarlett wears in the film goes missing. How are the women and their friendship tied to the hat? Will their friendship stand the test of time? Will the hat be discovered?

Stars over Sunset Boulevard is a great story with one of my favorite films as its backdrop. I loved the friendship between Audrey and Violet who at different times emulated the friendship of Scarlett and Melanie from the film. It is a friendship that things were done and said due to fear, love and uncertainty. I also enjoyed how Ms. Meissner weaves the past and the present as the mystery of the green carpet hat is revealed. I highly recommend Stars over Sunset Boulevard!

Sunset over Sunset Boulevard

is available at all major booksellers