While I always enjoy learning about history in a fiction format, I found the writing of this book to be mediocre, cliched, and extremely sappy. The reading level would probably appeal to high school aged or a precocious elementary child. I have not read the three books that precede this and was given them by an enthusiastic friend. I will probably skip. Thanks to NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review

Amazingly beautiful! A work written as a testimony for war, bravery and friendship! I loved the relationship between the two women!

The events of Scarlet Carnation occur in the early 1900s. This is the tale of May and Naomi, who were brought up in Virginia on a plantation before the Civil War and who were linked by their grandparents. Deep racial divisions exist between May, a white woman seeking independence, and Naomi, a Black nurse and NAACP leader seeking freedom and independence by purchasing a home for her family. Time is ripe for change, but there are many reminders of how much work still has to be done.

There is still a long way to go, and that is the main lesson I learned. Despite the fact that this book is set more than 100 years ago, many of the themes it discusses are now hot topics.

While you can read this novel as a stand-alone, I would highly recommend beginning at, well, the beginning. They are so very well worth the time! If you are a fan of historical fiction, I would highly recommend, this one is for you. Laila Ibraham is the ultimate researcher, and her character development is magical.

As always, many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Yellow Crocus” series. This is a standalone, no need to have read any of the others to enjoy this book.

Two related women tell the story: May & Naomi. May is white and convinced she is to be wed to a newly graduated professor. Things don’t go so well for her. Naomi is black, mother of three, a nurse and desperately wants to improve the living situation for her family but her husband doesn’t like change.

Ibrahim tells this story by alternating POV’s in well marked chapters. Her characters are well developed and the historical research is extensive. Make sure to read the author’s note and questions at the end of the book. It’s been 100 years since the time this story took place yet there are many relevant similarities.

Included in the story are elements of politics, race, history, family, mystery and love; a little something for everyone. It’s perfectly without violence, descriptive sexual content or foul language. A gentle read for those who enjoy historical fiction.

This story is set in the early 1900s when the country is dealing with racial injustice and then WW1. May and Naomi are distant cousins. May is white, and Naomi is black, and they both experience life in different ways during this time. You get to know these two women, their families, and their values.

Scarlet Carnation by Laila Ibrahim. Pub Date: April 1, 2022. Rating: 3 stars. This historical fiction novel set in the early 20th century, is a story told by two women during the Women's Suffrage Movement. The author delves into the topics of race, politics, war, love and family during this time period. Told through the voices of May and Naomi, the reader gets the perspective of different races due to one woman is black and one woman is white. I appreciated the attention to history and a novel written about a part of history that is not widely written about, but found the novel to be slow. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I have read books by this author before so was pleased to be able to read this book! I enjoyed it, it was very well written ( typical style of this author) and the two main characters Naomi and May were portrayed very well! An interesting story that kept me wanting more.

'Scarlet Carnation' is the fourth in Laila Ibrahim's series charting the development of equal rights in the USA through the stories of two interlinked families, one black and one white. The book begins in 1915, and is told from the perspectives of two women, Naomi and May. Naomi is in her forties with three teenage children, a successful nurse and midwife. May is twenty and still living with her mother and grandmother at the start of the book. Each has dreams - perfectly modest, reasonable aspirations - which are unreasonably hard to accomplish. May wants to settle down and marry an academic, whilst Naomi wants to buy a home for her family. Unfortunately, women in 1910s USA didn't have the freedoms and opportunities that they do now, and black women had the added burden of racism.

It's not essential to have read the previous books in the series, although I do generally recommend reading series in order. As each novel moves on a generation, there's enough separation to allow the books to stand alone. Events in previous novels are referred to, but are not essential to understanding those in the current book. I have read the preceding book, but not the two before that. In all honesty, I found it hard to remember the detail of what happened in the one I had read, so I don't know how much advantage reading the first and second would give a reader either.

Both May and Naomi are sympathetic characters with an interesting story to tell. The blatant and shocking racism of the time is very upsetting to be reminded of, but important to know about. The treatment of women and people with disabilities is also described powerfully. The extreme unfairness of all of it is infuriating. The way the books feature a black and a white family demonstrate how, whilst both have many problems to overcome, the black family will always have the additional problem of racism to contend with on top of that. I hadn't known about how badly black soldiers, fighting to defend their country, were treated when positioned in certain southern states along the Mexican border.

The story is easy to read and flows along nicely. It does lack a 'wow' factor - whilst I liked the characters, I didn't love them, and whilst there's nothing wrong with the writing style, there's nothing special about it either. It's good historical fiction and has some interesting insights into the treatment of people who weren't white men in the USA at the time. I'd recommend to readers with an interest in this period of American history, the civil rights movement, and women's suffrage.

. If historical fiction is your genre, this is an excellent read1

In short, Scarlet Carnation follows the lives of two women in California during World War One. May is a young white woman, and Naomi is an older black woman. Their lives are vaguely intertwined as the women are somewhat distantly related . It seems their relationship was well established in a prior novel- which I have not read, so without that back ground, the two women seemed to be vaguely related but living in separate worlds- just a few blocks apart from each other.
This author has mastered the art of moving a story along, and this was an easy read- with no spots that felt "stuck" and when I put it down, I was always left wondering what was going to happen next in the story, so I ws able to finish it fairly quickly.
Like a lot of historical fiction, the author puts so many historical events in- that it gets a little... overwhelming. Topics discussed in this short book range from birth control, Eugenics, Black rights, World War one, single motherhood, tuberculosis, the Spanish flu, and actually more! The author handled a lot of these events very well- using them as a natural backdrop, but, also finding ways to use the events to highlight various aspects of her main characters personalities- leaving the reader to make some decisions rather than spelling those personality features/detractions out.
I like historical fiction and I've read several historical fiction books this year, I admit- with the amount of topics in this book with historical significance, I felt a bit of overwhelm, and I felt like possibly some details that weren't as critical to the story could have been dropped, but, for readers who really enjoy those details, this is likely the exact read for a cozy afternoon.

I really enjoyed this read, it was well written with well developed charcaters that I took to my heart and a gripping storyline. I couldn't put it down I was hooked right from the start a nd loved how we found out about May and Naomi equally but seperately. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.

Naomi and May come from the same lineage, but have very different life experiences, partly because of their skin color and the basic opportunities that come with that. May is a young white woman who thinks that she is on the cusp of her life coming together and all of her dreams being met. Naomi is a mother of grown children and a leader of the NAACP she is fighting each day for the rights that her community should have at this moment in time.

While I loved both of these women dearly in this book and I loved their stories that were taking place in this moment in time which gave the story even more depth. I wish there had been more interaction between the two main characters throughout the book. I was enjoying their individual stories, but I also wanted them to interact as it felt weird to have their stories in the same book and not have them weave in and out of each other's lives.

While each woman had a lot going on, it didn't feel like too much drama in the book. I have had a few of Laila Ibrahim's books on my radar, but this was my first read and I hope to catch up on her backlist and also anticipate what comes next.