Midnight on Julia Street is an intriguing novel that is hard to place neatly in a genre category. This novel is one of my favorite types of novels, one that involves time through time, even if it is not physical travel.Corlis McCullough is a journalist who likes to get to the heart of the story no matter the cost to her career. She is on her sixth city in her profession, New Orleans, taping what should be a routine wedding when events unfold that make the wedding must see TV. Corlis also discovers that her college nemesis, King Duvallon, is the brother of the bride. Airing the wedding footage against the advice of her colleagues, Corlis finds herself out of a job, but also back in the sights of King Duvallon. Together they become unlikely partners in the crusade to prevent a historic building from getting demolished to put up a skyscraper hotel.Corlis McCullough starts having flashes to the past in which she relives moments in her ancestor’s, Corlis Bell McCullough, life. She soon discovers that many of the players in her present fight to save the Selwyn buildings are the descendants of many of the same players that originally built them. The historic figures had scandalous love affairs and also tales of corruption that helped to make the buildings possible.I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I thought both Corlis’s present situation and flashes to the past were equally interesting. I love that she was a hard hitting reporter and that her fight was the fight to save historic buildings. I find such things very intriguing. Her chemistry with King Duvallon was white hot. Duvallon being a professor of architectural history only made him more interesting to me. I also really wanted to learn the mystery of how the historic figures worked together and often against each other to get the buildings constructed.My favorite secondary character was Corlis’s feisty Aunt Margery McCullough, a hard-hitting retired reporter. She offers Corlis sage advice and interesting tales about her days working as a reporter as part of the Hearst empire.I love time travel in all forms. I thought Corlis’s time flashes were very unique. Her sense of smell triggered past remembrances and gave her a view point mostly of her ancestor’s past, but also of other intriguing characters.I loved the New Orleans setting. The descriptions of the City and of the food were very vivid, and made me really want to visit the grand city even more. The history in the novel was very intriguing. I had no idea that 45% of the African Americans pre-civil war in New Orleans were free people of color. It made me want to learn more about this unique history in our nation.Overall Midnight on Julia Street is an exceptional novel that manages to combine both modern day and historical elements to create one fascinating read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was ready to join the fight to save the historic buildings.This review was orginally published on my blog at: http://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2011/...
My primary requirement in a book is a good story. MIDNIGHT ON JULIA STREET by Ciji Ware is a great one.Corlis has been fired from her job--again.A crusading TV reporter, Corlis doesn't care whose toes she steps on when she's pursuing a story, and she pays the price. This latest job in New Orleans is the fourth one she's lost. Not helping matters is her encounter with Kingston, her college nemesis, at the scene of her latest debacle. Twelve years ago at UCLA, feminist school paper reporter Corlis and sexist frat boy King fought a no-holds barred ideological battle that resulted in King's expulsion from the college. Now's he's a professor of architectural history with the mission to save an historic city block from a greedy real estate developer.Both Corlis and King have mellowed in the intervening years. Corlis is no longer strident, and a stint in the marines obeying women officers has divested King of his chauvinist tendencies. Softer feelings now come to the fore. King even helps Corlis get another job. But flashbacks to antebellum New Orleans trouble Corlis. These visions send her back to when the buildings now under dispute were constructed. Her ancestor, another Corlis, lived in New Orleans then, and the other characters in the visions are also ancestors of people living today. Feelings run high over the preservation battle and find their mirror in Corlis and King's emotions, which make an about-face from their college days.MIDNIGHT ON JULIA STREET is an exciting, face-paced story loaded with historic and contemporary detail about New Orleans. Ms. Ware does a masterful job of interweaving the past when the buildings were constructed and the present when they may be demolished. She brings two very different eras to vivid life, leaving you wondering how the historical story will play out even though we already know the end.As for the characters, I love Corlis. She's my kind of woman. Smart, educated, strong, an outspoken professional who stands up for what she believes in and always remains true to herself. I also like King, who has learned the error of his sexist ways to become an honorable man and the perfect match for Corlis. Watching them as they seek to deny their attraction while the preservation battle throws them together is another layer of drama in this riveting novel.The third character is hot, humid, New Orleans. The issues facing the slave-owning French past of Corlis's visions are an eerie premonition of the problems of the modern city.Ciji Ware's books are fantastic. MIDNIGHT ON JULIA STREET proves that again.ARC provided by Sourcebooks
What do You think about Midnight On Julia Street (2011)?
This was my first book by this author. I read it because Diana Gabaldon recommends her on her website as a Historical fiction author. I had a hard time getting into the book because of the incredible details and large cast of characters she presents. I can't fault her details other than to say perhaps there were too many, and I love details normally. At times I felt like I was forcing myself to read it just to find out where she was going with all this. The story was certainly interesting and worth reading but I could have done with a little less historical emphasis and a little more storytelling. I do plan to go ahead and read "Light on the Veranda" mostly because I already bought it. If I didn't already have it I likely wouldn't seek it out after this example of her work. I like authors that hold my attention with their turn of phrase but this one reads more like a history lesson with a side story than a creative work of fiction.
—Angela
A fairly long book, but a quick read. Interesting storyline - I learned a lot about the New Orleans culture. I'm also a sucker for books that jump back and forth between the past and the present - in this case, the main character was having flashbacks to her ancestor's time in New Orleans. While the main character (Corlis) could be a bit dense and stubborn at times, overall she was relatable and sympathetic. As a lover of historic buildings, I found it very easy to get invested in the characters' struggle to save the Selwyn buildings. I have read 4 of Ciji Ware's books at this point and I have yet to be disappointed!
—Amy Schmalbach
New Orleans. Racial tension. Romance. Historic time travel vision trances. All the ingredients are there. I just wish it was a good as it sounded. I didn't believe the romance, or the tension. I wanted more of an explanation for the vision trance things (edit: other reviewers are calling them "time slips"? which works as well as anything I guess). Everything wrapped up too neatly. I was much more interested in the historical parts than the modern ones (note to self: stick with either historical fiction or modern, not a mix).But boy, I do still love New Orleans.
—Kristine
