The First Emma by Camille di Maio

The First Emma by Camille di Maio 

ARC from author for honest review

Book Blurb:

1914 – Young bride Emma Koehler dreams of a happy marriage and a simple life with her husband, but her hopes are quickly dashed by Otto’s obsession with his business. Though they become one of the wealthiest couples in the country – a fortune made on beer, mining, and hospitality – Emma is lonely in their stone mansion, unable to have children and unable to keep his attentions at home. When a tragic accident changes everything, Otto presents a new betrayal – and Emma must choose between loyalty and independence in a world that demands convention.
1943 – Mabel Hartley flees Baltimore after the war leaves her broken and alone. She answers the advertisement of a dying woman in San Antonio, with an urgent plea to come write her memoirs. In Emma Koehler, Mabel discovers astounding resilience – a pioneer who weathered personal devastation and navigated her large brewery through the storm of Prohibition. Soon Mabel realizes that Texas holds more for her than this new friendship. Romance blooms even as she’s given up on love, and an unexpected phone call gives her hope that not all goodbyes are final.

The First Emma is a moving story of love, hope, and murder that captures one woman’s journey to make her mark on history and another’s desire to preserve it. 

My Review: 4 stars

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The First Emma took me to San Antonio and introduced be to the beer making business. Honestly, in all my years of reading, I’d never read a fictionalized story that featured beer-making, yet here I am, having read two in two years. The Lager Queen of Minnesota being the other title.

I really appreciated that this book read quickly. In my experience, that happens when the storytelling is solid. Interestingly, the author had to depend on her imagination as most of her research about Emma was frutiless, and instead featured more about her deceased husband.

The fact that the book had three Emma’s in it was a perfect example of when truth is stranger than fiction. The first Emma, wife of Otto Koehler, was an incredibly smart and courageous woman of her time. By thinking outside the box, she was able to keep all her employees at work during prohibition.

Mabel Hartley, a fictionalized character, was the bridge used to get Emma’s story on paper. She ended up being a character to root for and one that was welcome to the story. This book starts with murder but it still brings us a tale of love, friendship,  independence and making your own place in history. Well done!

Quotes I liked:

I hope to encourage women to get into business and forge their own path in the world.”

“There is much in life that is out of our control. The answer is not to give up and crumble. The answer is to find a way around it, no matter the difficulty. No matter how impossible the obstacles.”