The Whiskey Sea (Book Review and Giveaway)

Title: The Whiskey Sea
Author: Ann Howard Creel
Publication: Lake Union Publishing, trade paperback, 2016
Genre: Historical Fiction, 1920s New Jersey
Giveaway: Thanks to the author and publisher, I have a copy of this book to give away to a US or Canadian reader! If you are a fan of historical fiction, please leave a comment telling me your favorite setting or time frame and I will pick a winner at or around the end of August.

Plot: Homeless when their mother (the town whore) dies, Frieda and her sister Bea are adopted by a kindly fisherman Silver. Frieda loves the sea and Silver’s way of life while the more delicate Bea excels in school. But Silver doesn’t approve of Frieda’s desire to join him deep sea fishing when she leaves school, so he sells his boat to a quiet young man named Sam Hicks who admires Frieda. Forced to think creatively about how to support her sister and adoptive father, Frieda persuades Hicks to teach her how to repair engines. Some of the fishermen are reluctant to trust a woman for such work and some people in town can’t forget her scandalous origins but Frieda scrapes out a living. When she is invited to help the skipper of a large boat smuggle liquor, her family and Hicks disapprove but Frieda sees not only a chance to make extra money as a mechanic but also finds excitement as the smugglers are often chased by the Coast Guard (trying to uphold Prohibition restrictions). Adding to the drama, Frieda falls for the handsome young Princeton alum who shows up to help with the smuggling as a lark - if he disappears as quickly, will he take her heart with him?

Audience: Fans of historical fiction, especially of feisty heroines longing for a non-traditional role in the world. Creel is also the author of While You Were Mine, set just after WWII.

What I liked: There are many books about this time period told from the perspective of flighty (or not so flighty) flappers, some of whom, like Frieda, yearn to escape the expectations of family but author Creel spotlights a very different heroine – one from a small town with little money and long memories – she is judged and found wanting due to her birth and sharp tongue. Frieda loves her adoptive father and sister but ignores their pleas to stop smuggling, justifying her actions as being done to support them. The descriptions of whiskey running are detailed, vivid and terrifiying, leading inexorably to disaster.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

What I disliked: For most of the book, I found the heroine hard to like. She was ashamed of her mother’s behavior and reputation so it didn’t make sense that she would so easily succumb to the charms of a stranger. Plus, it annoyed me that she was such a pushover even while the author skillfully conveyed Charles’ magnetism. I was also extremely irked that after Frieda risked her life on multiple occasions to fund her sister’s desire to attend college and become a teacher, Bea was so willing to toss her dream away and, even worse, not be available when Silver and Frieda needed her.

Source: I received a copy of this novel from TLC Book Tours and Lake Union Publishing in return for an honest review.  Don't you like the cover?  Although Frieda looks a bit too fashionable...  Please visit other stops on the tour:

Monday, August 22nd: Musings of  a Bookish Kitty

Tuesday, August 23rd: You Can Read Me Anything

Thursday, August 25th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Friday, August 26th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

Monday, August 29th: BookNAround

Tuesday, August 30th: Black ‘n Gold Girls Book Reviews

Wednesday, August 31st: Caryn, The Book Whisperer

Thursday, September 1st: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews

Friday, September 2nd: The Warlock’s Gray Book

Monday, September 5th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Tuesday, September 6th: Just Commonly

Wednesday, September 7th: Reading is My Superpower

Thursday, September 8th: Write Read Life

Monday, September 12th: Bibliotica

Tuesday, September 13th: Melissa Lee’s Many Reads

Thursday, September 15th: View from the Birdhouse

Friday, September 16th: FictionZeal

Monday, September 19th: Reading the Past