I had high hopes for this as it's set in a time and place I'm not familiar with. Regrettably, though, it hopped around a bit too much and had too much going on for such a short novel. That's not to say, btw, that it's not worth a read. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Would have been a better big book.

Because of the persecution of the Jews in Russia, and after the execution of Tsar Alexandar, a mother makes the difficult decision to send her two daughters with the wealthy Count and Countess, to live in Winnipeg and she intends to join them shortly afterwards, but they never see their mother again. They build lives for themselves there, one suffering consistently with mental health issues and the other in New York campaigning for women's rights. They struggle to live in the present while also arriving at peace with their past, but unfortunately peace is not possible for both. This was an interesting read. It was short and quite enjoyable too. I enjoyed reading about the era in question and was interested to learn how the tale would unfold.

I didn't love this book, but I didn't hate it either. It read less like a novel and more like an awkward non-fiction at times, which didn't really work. It was a decent read but not memorable.

I recieved an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and will recommend it often to lovers of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels!

Update: I will not be revisiting this, unfortunately. Life is too short and it still has no appeal to me, even though I tried to pick it up again multiple times. Just not for me I'm afraid.
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I did start to read this, but I think the fact that I read it in very small pieces quite sporadically lead to the fact that I just was not that intrigued at all by the writing and backstory. Which is really a shame, because I am a huge fan of books that include Canadian history, and the premise of this book sounded pretty neat. For now, I know I can't give it the attention or the review it possibly deserves, so I'm putting it on hold indefinitely and perhaps someday in the future I will pick it back up again with a new perspective.

Thank you Second Story Press for the review copy!

Really, really enjoyed this one. Sweeping and gripping in equal measures, A FIST AROUND THE HEART was a extremely well written and such a refreshing story as I've never read any book like it before.

am currently purchasing books for our secondary school library for our senior students. I am trying to provide a balance of genres and periods and really try and introduce them to a wide range of modern fiction and non-fiction. This book would definitely go down well with a hypercritical teenage audience as it has a bit of everything - great insights and a narrative style that draws you in and keeps you reading whilst also making you think about a wide range of issues at the same time. I think that school libraries are definitely changing and that the book we purchase should provide for all tastes and reflect the types of books that the students and staff go on to enjoy after leaving school. AFATH is the kind of book that you can curl up with and totally immerse yourself in and I think it will definitely go down well at my school. I think that it was the perfect blend of A page-turning read with a strong narrative voice too! I think it would be a big hit with our seniors and will definitely recommend that we buy a copy as soon as we can.

I have delayed this book for sooo long. I just never had the energy to pick it up again once I've put it down. But finally, FINALLY, I've finished it (last year actually before 2018 ended) and I've come with, you called it, a review.

“A Fist Around the Heart” is about the relationship of two sisters, Anna and Esther, who were forced to migrate to Winnipeg by their mother to escape the chaos in Russia. Since then, they were forced to live with their mother’s employers as their apparent guardians. A lot has happened in both their lives during the years that have passed. One day, after visiting Anna, there was news that Esther killed herself by letting herself get run over by the train that was supposed to be her ride home to Winnipeg.

Throughout the book, it shows the hardships Anna experienced, both living alone in New York and living with her sister, parents, and guardians. It deals with loss, pain, trauma, grief, and mental illness. But there were also parts which showed friendship, family, and support but being independent at the same time.

“A Fist Around the Heart” was an interesting read for me. The book's pace was just good enough for me and I understood what was going on. I could distinguish which were the flashbacks and the ones in the present day. I liked how some parts were kind of realistic and how I imagined they would be. I also learned some new things about history when I read this book.

I liked how the story was detailed but not too detailed. There were still some questions that were unanswered which was slightly disappointing because there was no complete closure about some things. But all in all, I guess, the end was patched alright. The characters were better than the plot so moving on...

Let's talk about the sisters... I could somehow relate to Anna's grief and I sympathize for her. All throughout the book, I admired her for being such a strong, independent woman. She may not had it easy but she got through. As for Esther, she made me think of how she and her sister have had it rougher compared to my life. She struggled through so much in her life. They both faced lots of challenges but they got through because they had each other. Or at least, Esther did. She was kind of dependent to Anna and that showed how fragile and vulnerable she is. Lucky she had Anna by her side as her support system.

Ugh, this book just makes me want to have a sister even more! The support, love, and concern represented by the two sisters frustrates me because I don't see that with me and my brothers. I hope that someday I could find someone who would consider as a sister to me and me to her.

Just a trigger warning though. There are mentions of suicide and mental illness so be warned.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of "A Fist Around the Heart." This review can also be read in my BookLikes site, Books + Glasses (nerdiiieee.booklikes.com).

A short novel that has many interesting facts in it. My personal favourite fact was that Avon originated as the California Perfume Company. Unfortunately A Fist Around the Heart reads less like a novel and more like a biography. Now if that appeals to you then you may find this an interesting book. However if you are looking for a mystery or thriller, like the blurb implies, you should head elsewhere.

The Story
Set predominantly in New York Heather Chisvin tells the story of two sisters. One whom is our narrator and the other whom is the older sister to the narrator. As I suspected it starts out with our narrator as a child. There's always something unreliable about a child narrator...
Our story progresses quickly to tell about the adult lives of the women. One (our narrator) that runs away to New York; and the other who chooses to stay in Winnipeg, where her parents (presumably) sent her and her sister as children. While there is a mystery to be solved here, did the sister in Winnipeg commit suicide or not, this is really the story of a New York girl and her struggles with being a single, childless Russian woman. She has hardships, but preservers during a time when so many fall destitute, that of WWII. It's an interesting perspective on women's rights and struggles prior to receiving the vote and to the Nazi's attempt to take over the world. I have nothing but huge respect for the women who came before us that worked so hard for the rights women deserve including: voting, birth control, abortion, marriage, and more.

Medical Interest
There is a point late in the story, where there is an interesting medical condition presented to the readers. I really enjoyed this part. I can't give anything away for fear of spoiling the mystery; but I can say that it's an interesting concept and makes me wonder if more people don't have this condition than we currently believe. I am also not sure what this condition is called today; or what it might be treated with. So more research is needed for me.

Mystery
Like I said in the intro, the mystery here is really not the focus of the story. It's more used to move the main narrative forward; to tell the story of our narrator. Not to say that it isn't intriguing; but I found the jumping back and forth between current day (in the book) to the past a little bit annoying. While I usually love books with this set-up; here it felt a bit too stilted and the progressions were lacked the smoothness I desire. That said, it was always obvious to me, even without headers declaring the historical moment, what the time period was.

Overall
I feel like there is more that could be done with this story. As this is Chisvins first fictional piece, she's a journalist, I can see why the book is written the way it is. Instead of giving more elaboration to the events and adding some juicy, literary descriptions; Chisvin focuses on facts. Very much like a journalist is required to do. There is obviously a lot of autobiographical material in A Fist Around the Heart and so I cannot in any way criticize the story; and I wouldn't anyways. The story is solid, it's the execution that is unusual. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy reading this. Just to say that it reads differently than your average historical fiction; or fiction book in general.
It would be interesting for this story to be told one of two ways in the future. First choice is as an actual autobiography of Chisvin. I'm interested to know what is really truth and what she developed into the fiction. Second as a true mystery story. With more developed setting, descriptions and literary devices used. The concept, story and outcome in the hands of a well-developed mystery writer could easily be a huge hit; and still bring a lot of light to the circumstances of the time periods portrayed. I'd definitely read another version of this if it was re-written in either way listed above.
And yet, I did really enjoy this story. It taught me things; from small facts (like Avon) to larger issues (like the medical condition) and afterall I usually just want a book to teach me something and entertain me. A Fist Around the Heart did do both of these to different degrees.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

A Fist Around the Heart is the debut novel of Heather Chisvin. While Chisvin promises to be a compelling author on the must-read list in the future, I felt like this book wasn’t quite ready for prime time.

The story, set in the 1880’s, follows two Jewish sisters whose mother sends them to Canada with her wealthy and influential employers, to escape the religious persecution in Russia. My problem with the book was that there were just too many fascinating storylines left unexplored and had very little character development. Chisvin touched on great themes like sibling love, parental abandonment, reproductive rights, the treatment of chronic and mysterious illnesses, a women’s struggle for equality in romantic relationships, and Russia’s political and social climate, and acclimating to the melting pot of NYC in the turn of the century. But, none of the many plot lines went deeper than surface-level, and I didn’t feel like I had a chance to get to know the characters or explore varying perspectives. In the end, I lost interest altogether and finishing it felt like a chore.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of A Fist Around the Heart in exchange for an honest review.

It's always tricky to successfully navigate a story that jumps back and forth between timelines. I've read some books this year that did it well (In The Vines) and others that left me slightly confused because of the structure (I Was Anastasia). The Very Marrow of Our Bones falls into the latter category. While the story of Anna and her sister, Esther, is compelling, ultimately the lack of structure and format of the story made it a little difficult for me to fully enjoy.

It could have been far better that it was. It's a bit all over the place sometimes structure wise. I definitely think the overall story and the characters could have been better written.

I liked the premise of the book and the story was interesting but the writing bothered me. The writing felt a bit amateur and then got rather confusing when it had flashbacks within other flashbacks - made it hard to follow along. 3 stars.

Goodreads says that “The story of Anna Grieve and her fragile older sister, Esther, begins in Russia in the 1880s. The vicious persecution of Jews has come to such a point that the girls’ mother makes the decision to send her children to Winnipeg with her wealthy employers.” They also add, “When Anna receives the unexpected news of Esther’s possible suicide on “If Day,” an unusual day in WWII history when a simulated Nazi attack took place in Winnipeg in order to raise funds for the war effort, she immediately returns to Canada. Only she can piece together what really happened all those years ago in Russia…”

I must admit that after I got this book, I almost regretted the request and avoided reading it for a while. With all the depressing news across the globe, I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for something that sounded depressing, and for some reason I thought this was going to be more about the Holocaust. However, after realizing that this debut novel is something of a family history Chisvin, I decided to put my trepidation aside and get on with it, mostly because I like to read new authors, and partially because I’ve had a family history novel in my own head for a while now.

The problem with a book that is based in your own family history is that there are always so many stories you want to include. They’re the ones we grew up hearing, and they’re all so juicy. Unfortunately, not every piece of family legend makes good fiction, because novels require a central conflict for resolution. Combining large amounts of unconnected information, tends to pull the focus away from that conflict. For me, this was the biggest problem I found in Chisvin’s story, which was otherwise a fascinating tale. For example, there’s a whole section of the book where Anna ends up getting deported from the US to Soviet Russia. While I believe I understand why Chisvin kept this in the story (probably due to an earlier reference in the book), I felt this section, despite it being very interesting, was superfluous the rest of the action in this book.

I also got the feeling that Chisvin was conflicted in what to present here. Was this book supposed to be about Anna’s need to discover if Esther’s death was suicide, an accident, or murder? Or was it supposed to be a portrait of Anna, who was a truly remarkable woman, and worthy of a novel based on her adventures? It felt that Chisvin wasn’t ready to sacrifice either of these plots, and instead decided to combine them together, with them both as main storylines, without either of them taking a back seat to the other. To achieve this, Chisvin needed to include a whole lot of flashbacks, which in and of themselves were very appealing. However, for me, because the book follows both parallel plots, these many flashbacks end up muddling the focus of the story. What I’m trying to say here is that I think Chisvin should have written two novels and not just one. The first should have been Anna’s story, and the other should have been about the mystery surrounding Esther’s death.

While writing this review, I suddenly thought about Rachel Joyce’s two novels – the first about Harold Fry and later, her book about Queenie Hennessey. In those two books, Joyce took one story and pulled them apart to show two connecting yet diverging sides of the same tale. Had Chisvin taken that example, she would have had not one, but two potentially five-star novels on her hand. I say this because I honestly believe Chisvin has shown about that much talent here, and that’s why I still enjoyed reading this novel. Chisvin knows how to stimulate her readers’ imagination, painting pictures of Russia, Winnipeg and New York that feel real and alive. Chisvin also showed a gift for writing believable dialogue, not to mention a flair for developing empathetic characters, and a forte for devising intriguing story lines.

So, while I’m sorry Chisvin didn’t think of writing two books instead of one larger novel with two equally major storylines, I still think this was an admirable first novel. In fact, I look forward to seeing what Chisvin comes up with next time. For all this, I believe I can still recommend this book (with reservations and knowing full well that what bothers me might not detract from this book in someone else’s opinion) and give it three and a half stars out of five.

I am an avid fan of all things Russian, literature and history especially. I loved the way Chisvin flickered back and forth between time periods for the characters. I also enjoyed reading about an earlier period of Russian life that i'm not well versed in. I thought it was an intriguing plot and enjoyed the relationship between the sisters which was fascinating, touching and full of mystery.

Anna “Bencke” Grieve’s life changed after Tsar Alexander II’s assassination. In fear for their lives as Jews, her mother, a privileged servant, asked her employers Count and Countess Chernovski to take Bencke and her older sister Esther with them to Canada. The Chernovski’s later adopt them, believing their parents to be dead. Bencke does her best to care for Esther, who suffers episodes from traumatic memories that incapacitate her at times, as she herself tries to fit her eccentric personality into Countess Chernovski’s picture perfect household. Decades later, Anna receives a phone call from the Winnipeg police informing her that her sister has committed suicide by stepping in front of a train. She heads to Canada seeking the truth. The story alternates between this investigation and a backstory of a life fully lived, from Anna’s forced relocation to NYC, to circumstances causing her to be deported to Russia during WWI. In the investigation, Anna learns her sister’s secrets and must live with them now.

Chisvin brings history to life in Anna’s story, as dear reader sees her torn from her family as a child after her country’s leader is killed and Jews are blamed, and as an activist for women’s rights alongside Margaret Sanger. She becomes a part of the melting pot that is NYC, falls into the fear of Americans who deport her in the war, and witnesses the disorder of Russia as essentially an outsider. Chisvin brings closure to Anna in her mixed emotions of finally being free of her sister as it breaks her heart. The last line of the book is brilliant in its imagery of this closure.

I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this beautiful story from the publisher through NetGalley.

I posted my review on my website and shared it on FB, Twitter, GR, and B&N.

I already want to thank the Netgalley website for allowing me to read this book.

On the cover we see Anna on the platform of a train station. It all began in the 1880s when Anna's mother and Esther sent them to Winnipeg after many persecutions of Jews. Each governs differently to his new life. Anna knows that her sister is suffering from this but she will have to leave and after a while she learns that her sister Esther has committed suicide. She will try to find out more about her suicide.

A historical fiction filled with suspense and twists with endearing and moving characters. I recommand it.

Anna receives a call about her sister. She is dead! Run over by a train. Was she pushed? Was this suicide?

Anna’s sister, Esther, is a damaged soul. Anna and Esther are given, by their mother, to a Count and Countess of Russia to be taken to safety at the beginning of the Russian revolution. Nothing is ever the same. Anna begins to rebel and Esther is prone to bouts of melancholy and mental detachments.

This story is narrated by Anna. And I love her tenacity, her hard work and her politics. Anna is a smart, sell sufficient woman in a time period where women are supposed to be homemakers only. She also secretly provides birth control. Keep in mind, this is when it was illegal for women to have birth control. Did I mention Anna is a REBEL?!?

Then there is Esther. Anna and Esther have a strange relationship. They are estranged through part of the story. But, the moment Esther needs her, Anna always comes through.

There is a lot of history and mystery in this book. It does flip flop between Anna’s past and her present. This can get a little confusing in places. But, the story keeps you captivated.

I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.

I was interested in this book because of the blurb, but I felt like it just didn’t deliver. The story jumped around between past and present in such a way that I couldn’t really keep up with the time I was reading about. The characters didn’t do much for me, and I honestly stopped reading about 15% of the way in. I rarely give up on books, so I definitely don’t recommend this one.

This is such a surprising book, one filled with layers inside layers and new revelations at every turn. Moving back and forth from WWII-era New York and Winnipeg and a Russian shtetl in the 1880s, and many points in between, it doesn’t offer the chronological path of a standard historical novel. However, its flow feels natural, like the unspooling of memories from a remarkable life.

In 1942, Anna Grieve, a well-off career woman in her sixties and longtime Manhattan resident, has just put her older sister Esther on a train back to Winnipeg after an enjoyable, long-awaited visit. Following Esther’s arrival home on “If Day,” the date of a simulated Nazi invasion, Anna receives a call from a policeman that Esther is dead; she’d walked in front of a moving train, an apparent suicide. Esther, a widowed society matron, had had episodes of mental instability from childhood on—periods when she seemed tuned out from reality—although she’d seemed fine during her stay.

As Anna herself returns to Winnipeg for answers, a mystery unfolds, drawing in reminiscences of both women’s earlier lives. In 1881, when Anna was five and Esther ten, their frightened parents, fearing anti-Semitic retaliation after Tsar Alexander II’s assassination, sent the girls away from Russia with her mother’s aristocratic employers. On their transatlantic voyage, young Anna’s confusion is palpable. Despite a comfortable upbringing, with an adoptive father who respects her intelligence, Anna worries continuously about her fragile, ethereally beautiful sister.

Anna is a woman of astonishing cour​age and hidden complexities. She forms friendships, has several love affairs, and participates in the early birth control movement alongside Margaret Sanger. Chisvin brings this setting alive with vibrant ease. One of Anna’s later travels feels a bit contrived, but this debut is a fine literary mystery with an insightful look at an unusual sisterly relationship.

(from the Historical Novels Review, May 2018)