#BookReview ~ Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash by Tammy Pasterick

Review and Author Interview

Description

It’s Pittsburgh, 1910—the golden age of steel in the land of opportunity. Eastern European immigrants Janos and Karina Kovac should be prospering, but their American dream is fading faster than the colors on the sun-drenched flag of their adopted country. Janos is exhausted from a decade of twelve-hour shifts, seven days per week, at the local mill. Karina, meanwhile, thinks she has found an escape from their run-down ethnic neighborhood in the modern home of a mill manager—until she discovers she is expected to perform the duties of both housekeeper and mistress. Though she resents her employer’s advances, they are more tolerable than being groped by drunks at the town’s boarding house.

When Janos witnesses a gruesome accident at his furnace on the same day Karina learns she will lose her job, the Kovac family begins to unravel. Janos learns there are people at the mill who pose a greater risk to his life than the work itself, while Karina—panicked by the thought of returning to work at the boarding house—becomes unhinged and wreaks a path of destruction so wide that her children are swept up in the storm. In the aftermath, Janos must rebuild his shattered family with the help of an unlikely ally.

Impeccably researched and deeply human, Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash delivers a timeless message about mental illness while paying tribute to the sacrifices America’s immigrant ancestors made.

Details

• Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
• Title: Beneath The Veil Of Smoke And Ash
• Author: Tammy Pasterick
• Genre: Cultural Heritage, Historical Fiction, Families
• Length: 392 pages
• Publisher:  She Writes Press
• Release Date: September 21, 2021

My Thoughts

I’ve never been a fan of history, so reading historical fiction wasn’t a thought I entertained. Not until recently. And by that, I mean the last two or three years. But it’s books like Beneath The Veil Of Smoke And Ash that brought this genre toward the top of my list. For me, this story takes textbook learning to a new level. Though I was somewhat familiar with this time in history, books like this, which appear to be well researched, cause me to understand the time in a more meaningful way.

Pasterick’s characters come to life in this story which covers the early 1900s. It helped me understand what my own relatives must have experienced, at least to some degree, when they arrived in the mid-1800s. Since my maiden name is Shakespeare, tracing genealogy is nothing new to me. But what I somewhat lacked about my family were stories. The type of stories that authors like Tammy Pasterick can provide.

Tammy’s book has so many elements, and I had no trouble feeling what each character must have been experiencing. And that applies to both the immigrant and those already living in America. Though the treatment of immigrants doesn’t make us proud of our ancestors, Pasterick briefly touches on the possible reason that people reacted so negatively. Fear.

If you’re a fan of family drama that includes the struggles of immigrants, poor working conditions, social class differences, mental illness, and so much more, this is the book for you. And if you’re like me, you will be completely amazed to learn that this is a debut novel.

Tammy Pasterick will, without a doubt, be on my watch list for upcoming books.

What Concerned Me

Nothing.

Final Thoughts

Even if you think you’re not a fan of historical fiction, I’m recommending you give it another shot, especially if you like history.

The short chapters from different points of view will definitely hold your attention throughout.

My thanks to @booksparks for sending me a copy of this beautiful book. There were no stipulations regarding my review.

Rating: (4.5 stars but I round up) 5 ☆☆☆☆☆

About the Author

And an Interview

A native of Western Pennsylvania, Tammy grew up in a family of steelworkers, coal miners, and Eastern European immigrants. She began her career as an investigator with the National Labor Relations Board and later worked as a paralegal and German teacher. She holds degrees in labor and industrial relations from Penn State University and German language and literature from the University of Delaware. She currently lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore with her husband, two children, and chocolate Labrador retriever. www.tammypasterick.com

Author Interview

I feel like getting to know an author makes their book even more interesting, so when Tammy agreed to an interview, I was ecstatic.

When did you realize that you wanted to write a book?

I never gave much thought to novel-writing until a genealogy project I began in 2012 took on a life of its own. A months-long binge on Ancestry.com led to a fascinating conversation with my grandmother about her Lithuanian parents and her Slovak in-laws, who arrived in America at the turn of the twentieth century to work in the steel mills of Pittsburgh. Grandma Pearl shared many wonderful stories from her childhood with me and even presented me with a shoebox of old photos of my great-grandparents who I had never seen before. I was so in awe of my family’s hidden history that my genealogy project quickly evolved into a novel.

I know that it’s difficult to get an agent or a publisher. What experiences did you have while sending your story out for consideration?

I queried literary agents for over two and a half years and was rejected 95 times before I found a home for my novel. It was a long and frustrating process, but several of the literary agents who read and rejected my manuscript provided helpful feedback, which helped me become a better writer and improve my novel. When it became clear that my lack of a social media platform was hindering my efforts at traditional publishing, I explored hybrid publishing. That’s when I found She Writes Press.

Do you have any advice for a new author?

Resist the urge to self-publish your novel as soon as you finish it. It most likely needs to be revised—several times. Use a group of beta readers to get feedback on your plot and characters and hire an editor if you can afford it. I highly recommend querying literary agents for at least a year even if you think traditional publishing might not be right for you. The feedback you’ll receive will help you improve your novel exponentially.

Now I’d like to talk a bit about your book Beneath the Veil of Smoke and Ash. Did you know from the onset how you wanted to tell this story?

I always knew that the story had to be told from multiple points of view. The steel towns in Western Pennsylvania in the early 1900s were very diverse places filled with people of vastly different backgrounds. The poor immigrants, the native-born Americans who made up the middle class, and the wealthy socialites who ran and owned the mills remained largely segregated and had extremely different lifestyles and experiences in these towns. There was such a sharp divide between the rich and the poor, and I knew I had to explore it. Seeing the world through the eyes of people at all levels of society gives the reader a more fully formed portrait of this pivotal time period and a richer reading experience.

I felt all of your characters were so believable and well-developed. Do you have a favorite? Why?

Pole is my favorite character. He reminds me of a lot of the boys I grew up with in Western Pennsylvania. He’s rough around the edges, but has a heart of gold. I also admire his ability to roll with the punches—and he takes a lot of them!

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve already shared your book with. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was aware of some of this history, but I learned so much more through your book. Did this story require lots of research?

Yes! I spent many months researching before I actually started writing the book. My genealogy project gave me a good starting point, but I still had so much to learn. I read several excerpts from The Pittsburgh Survey, a sociological study conducted from 1907-1908, which chronicled the living and working conditions of immigrant families. I also read several books about the steel and coal mining industries in Pennsylvania in the early 1900s. I spent a lot of time on Google and even visited a coal mine with my dad, who was a coal miner for almost thirty years.

It amazed me how you worked infertility, rape, mental illness, and postpartum depression seamlessly into your story. Was that always your plan?

I didn’t have a rigid outline for the story, so things just unfolded naturally. I knew mental illness would be a theme from the beginning, but the infertility and rape subplots came to me much later when I was already half-way done writing the book.

Are you planning any celebration when your book is available to the public on Sept. 21?

I had an online book launch on Facebook Live on September 22^nd. The video of the event is posted to my author Facebook page @authortammypasterick.

Are you working on a new book?

I’ve done some research for a novel set during World War II, but I haven’t had time to get any words on paper. The novel will be told from the perspective of a German family. They are not Nazi-sympathizers, but one member does work for the Gestapo.

On the lighter side, tell us something funny that has happened to you.

The research I did on Ancestry.com revealed that my best friend of 35 years is actually my fifth cousin. We share the same 5x great-grandfather who immigrated to America from Germany in the late 1700s.

What is something that not many would know about you?

I love to ski. I spent a lot of time on the slopes as a teenager, but never had the time or money to do it in my twenties and early thirties. I rediscovered the sport when my kids were little, and now my family skis in Vermont several times per year. We’ve even made it as far as Montana and Canada. The scenery is always spectacular, and the runs are exhilarating.

Describe your book in four words.

Gritty, riveting, moving, thought-provoking.

Describe yourself in four words.

Curious, adventurous, sentimental, well read.

Thanks so much for sharing, Tammy. I know I gained so much from this and I’m sure your readers will too. I will be watching for you next book.

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