Enza by Kristy K. James is a Historical Fiction novel:
It is a time of innocence and prosperity. The Women's Suffrage Movement gains more attention with each passing day. All across the country housewives and young ladies harbor hope that they might finally win the right to vote. Patriotism is at its peak as the war to end all wars rages an ocean away.
On the home front, in a small town in Michigan, life is being lived out like the pages of a Mark Twain novel. Until an unseen enemy, deadlier than any human adversary, threatens Mankind's very existence.
Elliot Owens - The only thing in the world that matters to Elliot is his wife and their five children,and he will do everything in his power to protect them.
Daniel Pullman - When his plans to join the Army are dashed following an injury, meeting the love of his life makes the disappointment easier to bear.
Colby Thornton - A devoted minister whose congregation loves him nearly as much as he loves them,Colby struggles with bitterness toward the wife who doesn't love him at all.
Marcus McClelland - One of the local funeral directors, Marcus lives his life avoiding close relationships because if he doesn't care about anyone,it won't hurt when he loses them.
Jonathon Owens - At ten years old all Jonathon dreams of is to be a war hero...by proving that his German neighbor is a spy.
Death spreads like wild-fire, when all is said and done, will any of them survive?
I’d like to take a moment to thank Ruth for hosting me today. I truly appreciate her generosity in allowing me to tell you about my new novel.
A number of people have asked me why I decided to write Enza. It’s a good question, and I’ve given it a great deal of thought. My initial reaction was because I’d seen a documentary on PBS about the 1918 influenza pandemic and thought it was interesting. That and I just really enjoy history. But I finally came to the conclusion that much of my interest in this ‘event’ was due to curiosity.
Why hadn’t I ever heard about this before?
It’s not like I hadn’t read a history book in school. Many of them, in fact. But if this pandemic had been mentioned at all, it was only briefly…and downplayed to the extent that most students promptly forgot about it. At least in my circle.
Expert opinions vary greatly, but deaths around the globe are estimated at between twenty and one hundred million. In the United States alone, 550,000 to 600,000 are presumed to have been lost. That’s more than the total number of American soldiers who died in all of the wars of the twentieth century.
How could people not know this?
One reason might be that it killed so many, and so quickly, that survivors just wanted to forget.
It would seem that they were overwhelmingly successful in doing so. As far as future generations were concerned, the horrific ‘incident’ was very effectively swept under the rug.
Usually I don’t think twice about anything I watch on television, or at the theater. No matter how much I might have enjoyed it at the time, I forget about it in a matter of days. But that didn’t happen after seeing this documentary. What I’d seen and heard kept nagging at me until I realized I needed to write something.
I wound up spending countless hours at the state library, going through reams of microfiche, and making copies of everything I thought might need. We won’t even discuss how much time I spent in the basement of an old courthouse, in a city records department, and at a newspaper office that had the actual papers from 1918. That was such an awesome experience, to be able to see, touch and read them, knowing they’d come off the presses nearly a hundred years ago.
One of the projects I had the most fun with was ‘reconstructing’ much of the city the story takes place in. I’d been fortunate enough to find a 1918 phone book and was able to copy it. After highlighting all of the businesses, I drew a map on a large piece of poster paper and, by addresses, wrote the name of every business where it would have been found back then. I needed that visual to get a sense of how different things were.
When I finally decided I’d learned enough to write semi-knowledgeably about this subject, it was time to start planning and plotting. And writing, rewriting, editing…and more editing.
It was worth every second because now Enza, at long last, has arrived.
Thank you again, Ruth, for helping me to celebrate Enza’s release. And thank you to everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to stop by.
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http://kristykjames.wordpress.com/
Follow the entire tour below:
Tour schedule:
April 23rd - Patricia @ Live and Dream a Little Dream
24th Andi @ Radiant Light
25th Heather @ It's All About Me
26th Lisa @ Seeking With All Yur Heart
26th Shannon @ Cocktails and Books (guest post only)
27th Paula @ The Phantom Paragrapher
28th Kathleen @ The Celtic Lady's Reviews
28th Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews
29th Molly @ Reviews by Molly
30th Hayley @ Hanging Off The Wire
May 1st Tracy @ Booked Up
2nd Donna @ My Life. One Story at a Time
3rd Ruth @ My Devotional Thoughts
Now, in case you are wondering, I will be reviewing this book in about a week. I ended up getting the book a little later, so I am reading it now.
I do get to give away some books. One of my U.S. winners will win a physical copy of the book "Enza." There were will be three digital books--open worldwide. All you need to do is enter via the rafflecopter below by 9:00 P.M. May 25 Pacific time.
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