Alright, so "The Way of Beauty" this lovely dive into love, art, and history. Picture 1940s New York as the cool backdrop. The story links two women hooked on the magic of beauty. De Maio spins a tale that mixes their lives, showing how art and human bonds can totally transform us. There's this cool vibe with historical deets, and it's all about love lasting through time. Trust me, it's a feel-good ride that's all about the power of beauty and following your heart – a total heartwarmer!

Wonderful story during an interesting time in history. The characters are diverse and complex with issues and secrets that they have to work through. Good read that is hard to put down. Grabs you from the beginning.

Master storyteller Camille Di Maio returns following Before the Rain Falls with THE WAY OF BEAUTY —a charming multi-generational love story of family, love, loss, and hope.

Meticulously researched and beautifully written, a lovely tribute to the workers who risked their lives, and the wonders of Penn Station and New York City.

As always, not only does the author provide fascinating and interesting historical facts and detailed history, her characters jump off the page.

Vera Keller, the daughter of German immigrants is devastated when discovering the man she loves is engaged to someone else. She is young and carefree and the caregiver for her aging father. The second half of the book explores Alice, her daughter. Alice is also a dreamer and wants a better life.

Camille weaves the timelines and characters storylines for a heartwarming tale, combining fact and fiction. She explores highly-charged topics of social classes, immigrants, women’s rights, activism, and loads of history and lots of heart.

Highly recommend this author. Have read all her books and each one is unique with her own winning signature style.

Check out her upcoming book, coming March 5, 2019, THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS!

#JDCMustReadBooks

A special thank you to Lake Union and Netgalley for an early reading copy.

This was book was amazing!! I love historical fiction. Camille's research was so evident throughout the whole book. She taught me things I never knew about Penn Station and I think everyone would love to hear this story. Whether you've been to Penn Station or not, you will enjoy this story. Camille just draws you in from page one.

Vera touched my heart from the beginning, the struggle of being so poor and the one light of her life... Angelo. I don't want to spoil things, but Vera's most ardent wish is foiled almost before she realizes how much she wants it, and brings a new friend, who opens her eyes to the suffrage movement and rights for women. And though she may not have Angelo in quite the way she hoped, she loves him and his son fiercely. The writing transports you to the time, not so long ago when women had to choose between love and their rights. Camille Di Maio's dialogue, descriptions, and relationships create a complete picture of the era and struggles. Great book club book.

5 Stars

*I voluntarily excepted this book in return for an honest review.*

Vera is a young woman in an ever changing turn of the century world. Her love, Angelo, becomes engaged to Pearl, leaving Vera sad and heartbroken. Vera and Pearl, as unlikely a match as they are, become friends. This friendship is one that may change Vera's life and Alice's, her daughter. Pearl is a strong woman who fights for women's rights and throughout this powerful story, you see a world of change.

Camille did it again. This is her third book I have read and once again I am blown away. This story was researched and detailed. Her stories always paint such pictures of the past that wrap a reader in the cocoon of a great a magical story. From beginning to end the characters tug at your heart. Vera was a great character, from a sad little girl, to a grown woman full of love and strength, she grows as a character and is one that you can't help but love. Her daughter is yet another wonderful character. She is carefree and powerful in her own right. This story was amazing in romance. From Angelo and Vera and their rocky start, to Alice, torn between Emmett and William, the romance is amazing and so true and powerful.

This story was really amazingly written. It had history, love, change, and passion. It was sweet and sad, it was all around wonderful. It was full of colorful and relatable characters. Honestly, it was just an amazing story.

Reviewed By
Stormi Ellis

THE WAY OF BEAUTY is a love story, but what is so charming about it is it's not just a love story between people; this book is a love story to New York City and, in particular, to the original Penn Station. The novel traces two women, Vera and her daughter Alice. It begins in the 1900 with young Vera, whose father is a "sandhog," one of the workers who helps build the tunnels leading to Penn Station. As Vera ages, she pines for the man who runs the newsstand at the train station, but he sees her as just a kid. Their story plays out in the shadow of Penn Station, as does Vera's daughter's story. In the midst of World War II, Alice finds herself torn between two men, one of whom has a dangerous secret.

The story is sweet and I was devastated in the novel when Penn Station was torn down (not a spoiler, I hope, as I assume everyone knows the original Penn Station no longer exists). Fans of Camille's books will be thrilled with this lovely tale.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and Camille Di Maio.
This is the first book I read from this author and absolutely loved it.
Heartwarming, beautifully written, did not want the book to end.
I cannot wait to read more books from this wonderful author.

The Way of Beauty is a book of beauty. Vera took a humble beginning and through different experiences came out with a beautiful life. Vera put others happiness before her own and the goodness came back to her many times over. I loved the characters and it was so easy to like them. I would have loved to get more of Pearl but the story line didn’t allow for it. In Part Two I enjoyed Alice’s conundrum to choose between two men who she loved in different ways. I really liked Emmett but I was rooting for William. This was a fantastic book full of lovely characters and a beautiful story.

4 stars
Camille Di Maio stole my heart by bringing historic New York to life in The Way of Beauty. The magic that Penn Station held from the early 1900s was something I had no knowledge of. The original station was planned and advocated by Alexander Cassatt, the brother of one of my favorite artists. It was considered to be the shining example of the Beaux-Arts style. I’ve been in Penn Station numerous times and I can assure you, it’s now nothing short of average. Learning about this history was a welcome addition to the novel.

The heart of New York City, the financial district, was also brought to life. My daughter lives on Pearl Street and Del Monico’s is across the street from her building. Having much of the book’s action take place in an area I’m so familiar with was really fun to read about. I’ve attached photos from my recent visit.

Surrounding the historical significance is a romance about love that builds over time and love that’s lost and found. Loving one man for his inherent goodness and loving one man for their shared passion. The power of friendship, the class differences that immigrants face and details about the suffragette movement were brought to life as well. It was eye opening to learn about the women’s’ march from New York to Washington D.C. to rally for the right’s of women. Truly, it’s reminiscent of the marches going on now for other feminist movements. Overall, the book is a bit predictable but still a very enjoyable read.

This took me away to another time and I hated for it to end. It is a heartwarming and you will fall right in love with the characters. I will be looking for more from this author!

I love generational stories and following the adventure of family and history connected! This story of Vera and Alice is full of adventure and suspense, a delightful read!

Enjoyable historical fiction that was well written and engaging. I especially liked the characterizations in the novel, although some of the plot elements were a bit sensational.

This story is quite the gem! First and foremost this historical fiction story is a love story, but underneath that it is a whole lot more.

This book is essentially broken into two parts. This first half of the book is Vera’s story. She is young, carefree, and in love. She is the main caregiver of her aging father and makes a friend who will completely change the direction of her life in multiple ways. The second half of the book is about Vera’s daughter Alice. Alice is a student who helps her father with the family business. She is a dreamer who hopes for something more. She is about to have the most unlikely encounter with two gentlemen and both of them will capture her heart.

I particularly enjoyed how Penn Station was used as a backdrop for this marvelous story. It was central to the many pivotal moments of the characters in the story, both good and bad. When Penn Station was built it completely changed the way people traveled and I found that to be an important reminder of how things used to be. It is easy to forget how far we have come.

This is a beautifully written, heart-warming story of love and undying friendship. What I found unexpected was the creative way women’s rights, activism, suffragettes, social classes, and more was worked into this story. As always I enjoyed Camille Di Maio’s latest book and look forward to reading more!

What a story! I think I say this every time I read a historical novel, but, I'll repeat myself again - "I am honestly not the biggest historical fiction fan" - BUT, I seem to have found an exception! I'm starting to enjoy historical fiction that is more based in the US and less WWII focused (although there are some favorites there, too).

The Way of Beauty mostly takes place in New York City (my city, gushes) during the woman's Suffrage movement but the character's are the true standouts here. Vera, Angelo, Alice, Emmett, William, Pearl - get to know them and thank me later.

I enjoyed reading this book but would have liked it better if it was broken into two books. Otherwise, I really liked the characters.

This vivid story is filled with dynamic characters that spans generations and centers on the history of New York's Penn Station. As you read along, you are taken on a journey through their lives, an emotional one. You bear witness to the internal as well as the external struggles of the protagonist's desires, dreams and aspirations. When you think of those women who came before us and what they went through to get the vote and equality, and what is happening today, you have to wonder just how far we've really come, or did we? Still fighting for every ounce of equality, still being treated as second class citizens in the workplace, still fighting for respect!

Di Maio has written a beautiful multi-generational story that will resonate within you for quite some time.

I liked this book but I didn't feel an emotional connection to it. It seemed to lack something. I wasn't quite clear what the story was about. Was it about women getting the right to vote? WWI? WWII? Nazi spies? It just seemed a little lost and then all of the sudden the story seemed to jump ahead over and over and I just had no connection to it.

This is my first Camille Di Maio book but I've been following her for quite some time on my bookstagram account. She's super friendly and I've been looking forward to reading her upcoming book and I'm so glad that I did. I'll be picking up the other two now as soon as possible. I always find my favorites in Historical Fiction and this is no different. It'll be a book I think about for a long time and although I didn't shed tears like many other historical fiction books, I closed the book so satisfied, happy, and overwhelmed with a feeling of warmth for not only the characters but the history that the characters had saved in the future.

I gravitate towards historical fiction and this is my first historical fiction centering around the women's suffrage movement. I also was connected regionally living so close to NYC. Lastly, I was connected to the German heritage expressed in words and and customs as my grandpa came over from Germany after WWII. I loved the setting and plot.

The book is beautifully written. Nothing goes without beautiful yet useful descriptions that help paint a picture better than many other books I've recently read. It's also written so well that the characters are lifelike. Part one is Vera's story. I had already felt like I knew and understood Vera in a short two pages even when this portion highlighted her life only as a child first arriving in NYC. As her story continues, the character development is wonderful. You really get to know her, Angelo, and Pearl. I felt for Vera the entire time. Her love for Angelo is so genuine and I felt so sad for her while reading even the happiest of parts between her and him.

All the feels I've had while reading this have been amazing. It's so great to continue to feel these connections. I also found it so interesting that in the first couple pages of her section, she mentioned how Germans and Italians and Spaniards were starting to mix. It is this exact time period where my grandfather sailed over from Germany and married my Italian grandmother. And then their son, my father, married my Spanish mother. Being from immigrant families (on both sides) this book really spoke to me. Pearl's dedication not only helped women get votes but those who were not born here in America.

I absolutely adored the first section of the book highlighting Vera so I was very excited to jump into Alice's story but also very sad that I had to leave Vera behind. I had so many questions. The great thing is that those questions are answered as Vera and Alice's story obviously intertwine as a mother and daughter pair.

As for the second section, I was immediately hooked on Alice and Emmett. He was so sincere and his actions when we first met him made me feel butterflies for Alice. However, as the story continued, I began to favor him less. There wasn't anything specifically wrong with him but I felt his courting of Alice was confusing, kind of selfish, and cold. He also was a little strange for my liking; however all of this is for good reason and when his story continued to unfold, he redeemed himself. With that being said, I still favored William much more. He was sweet and always seemed to have Alice's best interests in mind. His relationship with Vera and Angelo was also sweet and although this dynamic and situation with Vera and Angelo was much different than Emmett 's, for obvious reasons, it was more appealing to me. William's character embodied unconditional love which I was drawn to.

As the book dwindled down, I began to feel like I was going to have unanswered questions and be given a rushed ending but that wasn't the case. Everything comes around full circle and questions are answered. The answers made me feel sad a little but happy as well as I felt like everything that occurred although unfortunate, was for the better.

Also, I'm sure that our author, Camille Di Maio may have already stumbled upon some requests to write a story about Libby and I'm jumping on that bandwagon! I think that would be most interesting as a sequel to the lineage of amazing women she comes from. And if there is never a sequel, I will be okay and will most likely find myself re-reading this beauty some day!

I highly highly recommend reading this book. Its entwined stories are beautiful while full of love and of the horrors of the past here in America. This is a story where you are truly connected to the characters and just don't want them to go away. I'm more than happy that I dove into this book when I did. It's a perfect beach read because you're more than invested and most likely won't shed any embarrassing tears. Maybe one or two but they can be easily hidden! Read it, you won't regret it!

Looking for an amazing novel with a gripping story? Do you love losing yourself in historical fiction? Then get yourself this book immediately! The Way of Beauty by Camille DiMaio came out in May and its a must-read!

From the beautifully designed cover to the story, its a four-star, A+ read.

Here’s what you need to know:

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.

I am a HUGE FAN of New York City at the turn of the century, I devour any book that has an old Manhattan as the backdrop. Add to that an irresistible storyline and I will be reading deep into the night.