Life Before A Novel KL Romo 9780692604908 Books
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Life Before A Novel KL Romo 9780692604908 Books
The historical events and characters depicted in this novel are quite compelling. They are, however, framed in a confusing present-day context, which was not as successful. Be aware that this story is about prostitution and contains fairly adult situations and language. The explicit nature of passages describing the violence and humiliation these women suffer may be titillating to some readers. While the author’s intent is surely not to appeal to men’s basest urges and misogyny, there is a possibility that her work may have this effect. However, in order to portray the plight of these women, it may be necessary to take this chance.Elaine Grace Dearborn, a self-described “stay-at-home mom with no one to care for” has waited for her children to grow up to turn her attention back to writing. Faced with writer’s block, she starts typing and is transported back in time to the 1900s to the story of a reformed prostitute. The novel switches back and forth between 1907 and 2011, as Elaine researches Eliza and prostitution at the turn of the 20th century.
In the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Eliza is forced to leave school when her father dies. She finds a shop position, where one particular young man wins her affection with sweets. When she spends a weekend with him , her mother summons the police to jail her for prostitution. Eliza decides that she may as well be a prostitute if she is going to be treated as one. She sets off for the “finest house on Emma Street” which is so stylish it doesn’t seem like a bordello. She evinces no moral qualms about her choice. It’s just the best job she can find. She argues that most jobs involve some form of selling your body.
Prostitution in the Victorian era was no less dangerous than today; Eliza is attacked and her face severely scarred by a dissatisfied customer. Soon after, Madame Dixie closes her bordello and helps start the Johnson Home, where working girls are trained for less dangerous professions. Eliza becomes her second in command, helping to recruit girls and to train them.
Maisy Carroll has a difficult and dangerous job at the mill. Maisy has been repeatedly raped by her shift supervisor. Her father, who also works at the mill, tells her to keep her mouth shut about it, afraid they will lose their jobs. Maisy decides that if men are going to have what they want from her, she should benefit from it. She walks out of her mill job and into a brothel.
While prostitution is a choice for these two women, Rosa Robles is tricked and forced into prostitution. The “school” she thinks she’ll be attending turns out to be a crumbling warehouse converted to hundreds of “small cells called cribs, with bars across the windows and doors which remained locked until a customer turned the key to enter.” The hundreds of women locked up here were literally sex slave, earning no money and forced to entertain as many as thirty men a day. Unlike the high-priced whore houses on Emma Street that catered to the rich and powerful, these houses served the working class. A short encounter could be had for 50-cents with any of these “two-bit whores”. While the pros on Emma Street were almost universally white, most of these women were black or Hispanic.
When she is later sent to work at the Palace, one of the Emma Street houses, her lot only improves incrementally: because she was sent “as payment of a debt, she wasn’t earning a single nickel”, while serving more men than the other girls and performing in the houses bawdy show.
The author does not hold back in describing the lurid and violent treatment these women suffer. She never really questions their morality, letting them speak for themselves. They are women who have been dealt a sorry hand and must choose a path from a very limited set of opportunities. The Johnson home and the work performed to open new opportunities to these women provide a spark of hope. Eliza has been saved from the violence of her past. She then saves Maisy, who escaping the mill has fallen into the depths of depravity and addiction. Maisy then saves Rosa. And Rosa forces them all to turn their attention to saving those most in need, the denizens of the cribs.
The interconnected lives of these women are moving and real. The book is worth reading for these women’s stories. The mystical “previous life framework tying these stories to the present does not work as well. The author includes a few details to suggest the crossing of boundaries – an awareness of pearls and cinnamon that carries into the “real” world, but the narrative awkwardly tries to marry the past and present. The inclusion of diary entries provides a lot of Eliza’s story, but makes it harder to follow when the time-travel occurs and when Elaine is simply incorporating bits of the diary that she’s read. There is also no explanation for how Maisy or Rosa’s stories are known. If Elaine is reliving her past life as Eliza, she would not be witness to these historic events. If she travels more freely through time, there is less justification for the “previous life” scenario.
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Life Before A Novel KL Romo 9780692604908 Books Reviews
An absolutely fabulous book and I only occasionally include historical fiction in my reading lists. I was very impressed by the terrific writing style and the storyline. This is a great read!
Vividly told this fascinating story brings history to life. The women struggling to survive in this early 20th Century world face obstacles and heartbreak that seem insurmountable. The realism and the gritty details in this story are riveting. Highly recommend.
I love how deftly the author weaves the two women's lives together. The storytelling is never choppy. It's a vivid story, yet gritty but shines with hope. I found myself rooting for the strong protagonists women as well who were brave yet vulnerable.
In this novel, the author brings to light the abuse of girls and women in the sex trade. I found it inspiring how female characters mentored other women, how friendship grew in trying and oppressive situations, and how characters were willing to sacrifice their lives for each other. I also admired the personal strength of the historical characters as they challenged each other to value their inherent worth and to reject prejudice, while the modern day character came across to me as a weaker character who leaned on new age practices for answers. I wasn’t comfortable with the explicit and violent sex scenes, although some of that had to be dealt with to show what girls and women suffer. I am pleased to say the book has motivated me to read more historical fiction because I enjoyed the interesting historical facts the author weaved into the story.
I loved reading this book. Every now and then I need a change from my Amish books....and this was certainly a change. Amish to prostitution! Every character had his or her own special story that meshed together. Traveling back and forth in time was not a problem. Eliza was a special strong caring person even though her mother told her she was a worthless person who would never amount to anything. Unfortunately prostitution was the way of life for many underprivileged uneducated young girls.
I loved this novel. Though I thought it started a little "slow" it was necessary in order to build the character and plot. What a GENIUS IDEA to write a novel from the perspective of one person but from two different periods in time. Don't be mistaken, this book contains nothing about time travel, but explores the concept that souls don't die but are continually reborn and certain people are uniquely sensitive to remembering or "reliving" a past life. What made this novel even better was taking on the challenge of learning about and casting light on the life of prostitution & human trafficking & "white" slavery just shortly after the end of the American Civil War and the abolishment of slavery. Really this was a great great read!!!
This is an excellent novel. Traveling frequently from the present back to 1903, etc. and back is handled well and the characters are likable and colorful in both time zones. I had no confusion about who and where I was in this story.
There is a little more sexual content than I am comfortable with, but this is a historical novel about prostitutes and prostitution at the turn of the twentieth century - there would be. Set in Dallas, Texas, K. L. Romo takes us back, through the various levels of sexual slavery of this time - and, unfortunately, still a problem in our time. Her travel back in time is represented carefully, fully and well; her protagonists are well established and empathetic; and her stories are excellently presented. This is an author I will follow in future.
The historical events and characters depicted in this novel are quite compelling. They are, however, framed in a confusing present-day context, which was not as successful. Be aware that this story is about prostitution and contains fairly adult situations and language. The explicit nature of passages describing the violence and humiliation these women suffer may be titillating to some readers. While the author’s intent is surely not to appeal to men’s basest urges and misogyny, there is a possibility that her work may have this effect. However, in order to portray the plight of these women, it may be necessary to take this chance.
Elaine Grace Dearborn, a self-described “stay-at-home mom with no one to care for” has waited for her children to grow up to turn her attention back to writing. Faced with writer’s block, she starts typing and is transported back in time to the 1900s to the story of a reformed prostitute. The novel switches back and forth between 1907 and 2011, as Elaine researches Eliza and prostitution at the turn of the 20th century.
In the early 1900s, thirteen-year-old Eliza is forced to leave school when her father dies. She finds a shop position, where one particular young man wins her affection with sweets. When she spends a weekend with him , her mother summons the police to jail her for prostitution. Eliza decides that she may as well be a prostitute if she is going to be treated as one. She sets off for the “finest house on Emma Street” which is so stylish it doesn’t seem like a bordello. She evinces no moral qualms about her choice. It’s just the best job she can find. She argues that most jobs involve some form of selling your body.
Prostitution in the Victorian era was no less dangerous than today; Eliza is attacked and her face severely scarred by a dissatisfied customer. Soon after, Madame Dixie closes her bordello and helps start the Johnson Home, where working girls are trained for less dangerous professions. Eliza becomes her second in command, helping to recruit girls and to train them.
Maisy Carroll has a difficult and dangerous job at the mill. Maisy has been repeatedly raped by her shift supervisor. Her father, who also works at the mill, tells her to keep her mouth shut about it, afraid they will lose their jobs. Maisy decides that if men are going to have what they want from her, she should benefit from it. She walks out of her mill job and into a brothel.
While prostitution is a choice for these two women, Rosa Robles is tricked and forced into prostitution. The “school” she thinks she’ll be attending turns out to be a crumbling warehouse converted to hundreds of “small cells called cribs, with bars across the windows and doors which remained locked until a customer turned the key to enter.” The hundreds of women locked up here were literally sex slave, earning no money and forced to entertain as many as thirty men a day. Unlike the high-priced whore houses on Emma Street that catered to the rich and powerful, these houses served the working class. A short encounter could be had for 50-cents with any of these “two-bit whores”. While the pros on Emma Street were almost universally white, most of these women were black or Hispanic.
When she is later sent to work at the Palace, one of the Emma Street houses, her lot only improves incrementally because she was sent “as payment of a debt, she wasn’t earning a single nickel”, while serving more men than the other girls and performing in the houses bawdy show.
The author does not hold back in describing the lurid and violent treatment these women suffer. She never really questions their morality, letting them speak for themselves. They are women who have been dealt a sorry hand and must choose a path from a very limited set of opportunities. The Johnson home and the work performed to open new opportunities to these women provide a spark of hope. Eliza has been saved from the violence of her past. She then saves Maisy, who escaping the mill has fallen into the depths of depravity and addiction. Maisy then saves Rosa. And Rosa forces them all to turn their attention to saving those most in need, the denizens of the cribs.
The interconnected lives of these women are moving and real. The book is worth reading for these women’s stories. The mystical “previous life framework tying these stories to the present does not work as well. The author includes a few details to suggest the crossing of boundaries – an awareness of pearls and cinnamon that carries into the “real” world, but the narrative awkwardly tries to marry the past and present. The inclusion of diary entries provides a lot of Eliza’s story, but makes it harder to follow when the time-travel occurs and when Elaine is simply incorporating bits of the diary that she’s read. There is also no explanation for how Maisy or Rosa’s stories are known. If Elaine is reliving her past life as Eliza, she would not be witness to these historic events. If she travels more freely through time, there is less justification for the “previous life” scenario.
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