The Way of Beauty

De: Camille Di Maio

Narrado por: Meredith Starkman

Hearts and dreams evolve in the shadow of the once-magnificent Penn Station.

Vera Keller, the daughter of German immigrants in turn-of-the-century New York City, finds her life upended when the man she loves becomes engaged to another woman. But Angelo Bellavia has also inadvertently opened up Vera’s life to unexpected possibilities. Angelo’s new wife, Pearl, the wealthy daughter of a clothing manufacturer, has defied her family’s expectations by devoting herself to the suffrage movement. In Pearl, Vera finds an unexpected dear friend…and a stirring new cause of her own. But when Pearl’s selfless work pulls her farther from Angelo and their son, the life Vera craved is suddenly within her reach—if her conscience will allow her to take it.

Her choice will define not only her future but also that of her daughter, Alice.

Vera and Alice—a generation and a world apart—are bound by the same passionate drive to fulfill their dreams. As first mother and then daughter come of age in a city that is changing as rapidly as its skyline, they’ll each discover that love is the only constant.

©2018 Camille Di Maio (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Just enough

History, romance and mystery to keep me distracted from the drudgery of my daily work commute.

Lyrical, dreamy, eye-opening historical romance

Audio book / print combo review. Warning! This book is going to take way longer to read with your ears than indicated. And that’s NOT a problem since what slowed me down was stopping, re-playing, and writing down the numerous quotes that caught my ear. The Way of Beauty is a treasure chest full of memorable lines uttered by characters with whom we want to spend time and know better. Listening to the story unfold makes the reader disappear into the past and into the hearts of the generations of people who live there.

In her first book, The Memory of Us, author Camille Di Maio convinced me that I am, in fact, capable of enjoying reading a romance. Happily, The Way of Beauty seals the deal, but like TMOU, it sets the bar high for all other books to follow. Camille’s books are gloriously literary, and the reader is swept into the passion and love the characters develop for each other. But the romance element is so much more than between people. Di Maio manages to evoke an air of romance with the setting and the times and the history. Readers fall in love with every piece of it, generation after generation.

“It was the one good thing about having little. There was little to lose.”

While there is passion abounding, Di Maio also brings in the less than beautiful truths of the early 20th century. She has done considerable research that highlights the ugliness associated with immigration, workplace safety, extreme poverty, women’s rights, prejudice, sexual harassment, and war – and the government's lack of interest or ability to handle the issues. (Hmm. And we are still dealing with new iterations of these same issues today.) Without being preachy or feeling like a history lesson, the book informs, subtly, and makes the reader think. The historical details are seamlessly woven into the rich tapestry that is The Way of Beauty.

“What was the value of a life of a man when thousands of immigrants were desperate to take his place?”

There is a stark contrast between the privileged and the poor, but glamour is often presented in terms of the sacrifice it took to make that glamour happen. Again, Di Maio makes the reader think about the conveniences we take for granted and, literally, the lives forever altered or lost to provide them to us.

The Way of Beauty is clean (tasteful and classy), and cleanly edited, and the writing is lyrical and even dreamy at times. Dialogues are natural and work to further immerse the reader in the setting. Written in two parts, the story flows smoothly from that of Vera to that of Alice, Vera’s daughter. There is a prologue with one sentence that demands explanation that will begin niggling at the reader as Alice’s story progresses in part two. Audio book listeners miss out on this, but for those who read the book with their eyes, don’t skip the informative Author’s Note for even more tidbits to enrich the story. (And the Acknowledgments. Thank YOU, Camille, for sharing your beautiful stories with us. I am honored.) My only complaint is that I wanted more of everything! The story spans many years, and I hated missing out on any of the delicious details that surely must have happened in the in-betweens. I think a novella just about Vera and Angelo is in order!

The narration, performed by Meredith Starkman, is well-done. I listened at 1.25x speed, which was perfect for me and didn’t alter the vibe of the story. Starkman’s voicing of male characters is especially good, and she handles both the Italian and German accents and pronunciations admirably. Vera and Pearl are perfection. In part two, Alice sounds a bit too modern-teenish rather than how I would imagine a teen in the ‘40s should sound. And Emmett seems creepy instead of mysterious, and I’m not sure he reads that way. Overall, Starkman does a great job of keeping the pace even and there are no glitches or mispronounced words that I noticed. The style and pace of The Way of Beauty translate very well as an audio book.

Thank you to Lone Star Book Blog Tours and the author for providing me the audio book and the eBook in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.

MORE LINES THAT CAUGHT MY EAR:

“She might never be able to see the world, but all the world came to her through the tunnels of Penn Station.”

“Why do people change their voices when speaking to someone in sorrow? As if death were played on the left side of the piano while life was played on the right.”

“Being a strong woman didn't mean she couldn't accept assistance, especially when she really did need it.”

“Our wrinkles tell our story, etched out like a road map. That’s the way of beauty. Birth, middle age, decline.”

Narrators need to learn to pronounce what they’re reading

Nothing irks me more than when a narrator doesn’t bother to learn how to PROPERLY say the names of areas they are talking about. It’s not AL-Bany it’s ALL-Ban-Ee. Do better.

Historical,.moving

This book covered many years and the changes that took place during those times. It was slow in some areas, but a very good story.

Enjoyed the book. The tires with history were good.

The storyline was good, and I appreciated the tie with history. The overall performance of the reader was good as far as I am concerned.