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Dipped in Chocolate: How I researched THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN and loved every minute by Jina Bacarr

December 11, 2022 by in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as , , , ,

Do you remember the hilarious scene in an episode of ‘I Love Lucy’ where Lucy and Ethel are working in a candy factory and the conveyor belt speeds up and they stuff their mouths with gourmet chocolates?

Pure heaven…

I didn’t have that experience, but I did have a blast researching the art of chocolate up close and personal for The Orphans of Berlin, tasting and munching on creams and caramels to my little heart’s content.

Then running on the treadmill for hours…

It was worth it.

I wanted to get a feel for what it was like to grow up in the world of chocolate like my debutante-heroine Kay Alexander and become familiar with how candy is made… as well as its importance during World War 2 when Ration D chocolate bars were loaded with vitamins and included in every soldier’s military ration kit.

It all started in 1868 when Kay’s candy-loving, Irish great-grandfather started a candy business called ‘Radwell’s French Chocolates’. Being a candy heiress gives Kay the opportunity to spare no expense getting Jewish children out of Nazi Germany.

I discovered a publication called the ‘Confectioners and Bakers Gazette’ which detailed the candy business from 1896 – 1930, including candy factories in Philadelphia (in 1908, there were twenty-five factories in the US manufacturing chocolate). I find it odd it ceased publication during the Depression since candy sales boomed during those lean years, including Radwell’s French chocolates.

‘Sorority Chocolates’ were a big seller reputed to reach seventy-five million customers, appealing to high school girls, their moms, aunts, and grandmas.

Other notable facts include the use of synthetic vanilla called vanillin even back then; but as any Christmas cookie baker will tell you, real vanilla in his cookies is what makes Santa smile.

I also read books on chocolates and searched the Internet for chocolatier’s ‘secrets’ and favorite recipes to come up with my own special chocolates for the Radwell’s brand.

Here are a few samples for your taste delight:

Renoir Dark Chocolate Bars

Hand-dipped, chocolate-covered squares

… topped with a swirl of buttercream

 

Caramels de Vendôme 

Dark chocolate

… filled with honey caramel and vanilla ganache

 

Truffles à l’Opéra

Bittersweet chocolate

…filled with raspberry ganache 

 

Montmartre Mints

Dark chocolate thin mints

… with flecks of almonds

 

Versailles Soft Creams

Dark chocolate hearts

… filled with raspberry buttercream 

 

Notre-Dame Angels

White chocolate truffles

… filled with pecans and vanilla ganache

I invite you to give yourself a treat when you’re reading The Orphans of Berlin. Stock up on your favorite chocolates filled with creamy mousse, rich ganache… and decadent truffles.

I dip my fingers into the box of gourmet chocolates and grab the last piece. A raspberry dark chocolate truffle. Mm… delicious. A gift from the candy gods.

Ah, the travails of a writer’s research… a tough job.

But somebody’s got to do it, n’est-ce pas?

@jinabacarrauthor

1939 Berlin What if you’re a mom and you have to send your daughters to France to save their lives? #historytokwwiihistoricalfiction@bookandtonic

♬ original sound – Jina Bacarr Historical Author♥
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The Orphans of Berlin pubs today by Jina Bacarr

November 11, 2022 by in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as , , ,

Yes, it’s here! Pub day for The Orphans of Berlin.

I’ve been holding my breath for this moment… a long road… years in the making in a very personal way that made me cry as I write this.

Meet the Landau Sisters barely surviving in Nazi Germany… and Kay Alexander, the amazing debutante from Philadelphia who will stop at nothing to save them from the Nazis in 1939 Berlin…

And of course, there’s a British pilot hero to die for…

US https://amzn.to/3TMKZlf

UK https://amzn.to/3Qjp5mB

PS — in case you’re wondering about the items in the photo — cigarette case engraved with a map of the UK is a vintage piece like the one the hero gives to Kay, my heroine (I use it to keep stamps), and the cigarette holder is a prop I had from a play I did…

The string of pearls I’ve had since I was 16; chocolate pieces because Kay is a candy heiress and a Philadelphia deb — she was Debutante of the Year 1934. The photo is similar to what you’d see on the society pages in the 1930s announcing Kay’s ‘coming out’.

Any questions about The Orphans of Berlin? Be happy to answer them, so fire away!

Before I go, I want to thank our own Slice of Orange author Veronica Jorge for her 5 star review of The Orphans of Berlin. She’ll post it here on A Slice of Orange on November 22nd… so check back!

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‘The Orphans of Berlin’ is now on NetGalley by Jina Bacarr

October 11, 2022 by in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as , , , ,

It’s always exciting when a new story you’ve labored over for months… and months finally makes its debut… like a Broadway show opening out of town.

Philadelphia has had its share of out-of-town openings, so it’s only fitting THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN with my Philly debutante heroine had its opening this weekend on NetGalley.

To celebrate, I pulled out memorabilia from Berlin… my red cloche hat and red leather driving gloves… Berlin postcards.

And three of my favorite dolls that I carried around in a special pink trunk when I was a kid every time we moved.

My childhood ‘posse’.

Doll friends I could hang with since I was always the new kid in school (I went to 15). I’d eventually make friends, but these 3 ‘sisters’ were always there for me as they are today when I introduce you to the three Landau Sisters during WW2, Jewish girls in danger when the Nazis come to power…

Rachel, Leah, and Tovah.

Through a twist of fate, their fate is changed forever by Kay Alexander, a candy heiress with a dark secret that haunts her. Kay has no idea what’s in store for her when she visits Berlin in 1937… once she meets the Landau family, she’ll do anything to help them survive.

I spent part of a summer in Berlin years ago, visiting the city’s museums and shopping on the Ku’Damm, but the most memorable part was visiting East Berlin before the wall came down. I remember what the hotel clerk told me when I asked him for directions to Checkpoint Charlie. ‘They’ve forgotten how to smile,’ he said. I didn’t understand then what he meant until I was lost in that world of gray between East and West like a lost shadow.

During WW2, the Landau Sisters also forget how to smile as their freedoms are slowly taken from them because they are Jewish. In The Orphans of Berlin, you’ll meet Rachel and watch her grow up during the 1930s until the day her parents make the hardest decision a family should never have to make.

To send her and her sisters away… so they may live.

But how? Will they survive? Where will they go? Find out in THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN.

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If you’re a book reviewer and you’d like to request an ARC here’s the NetGalley info:

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

UK http://netgal.ly/JraDUM

US https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/270880

===============

PRE-ORDER NOW:

UK https://amzn.to/3Qjp5mB

US https://amzn.to/3TMKZlf

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Jina Bacarr September Featured Author

September 21, 2022 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as , , , ,

About Jina Bacarr

I discovered early on that I inherited the gift of the gab from my large Irish family when I penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. I was twelve.

I grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales and it was those early years of storytelling that led to my love of history and traveling.

Jina Bacarr | A Slice of Orange

I enjoy writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by my side. I adore dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. I’ve always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris. The voices of the past speak to me through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. I’ve always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.

You can follow Jina on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Goodreads
Bookbub

Jina also has a column here on the 11th of every month: Jina’s Book Chat.

Jina’s newest novel, The Orphans of Berlin, is available for preorder and will be published November 10, 2022.

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN
Buy from Apple Books
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Google Play
Buy from Kobo
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Amazon

A Few of Jina’s Other Books

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

Buy now!
THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

Buy now!
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

RESISTANCE GIRL

Buy now!
RESISTANCE GIRL

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Buy now!
THE RUNAWAY GIRL

HER LOST LOVE

Buy now!
HER LOST LOVE

A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

Buy now!
A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Buy now!
A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

COME FLY WITH ME

Buy now!
COME FLY WITH ME

LOVE ME FOREVER

Buy now!
LOVE ME FOREVER

SISTERS AT WAR

Buy now!
SISTERS AT WAR

SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

Buy now!
SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

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Jina Bacarr September Featured Author

September 14, 2022 by in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as , , , ,

About Jina Bacarr

I discovered early on that I inherited the gift of the gab from my large Irish family when I penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. I was twelve.

I grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales and it was those early years of storytelling that led to my love of history and traveling.

Jina Bacarr | A Slice of Orange

I enjoy writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by my side. I adore dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. I’ve always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris. The voices of the past speak to me through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. I’ve always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.

You can follow Jina on social media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Goodreads
Bookbub

Jina also has a column here on the 11th of every month: Jina’s Book Chat.

Jina’s newest novel, The Orphans of Berlin, is available for preorder and will be published November 10, 2022.

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN
Buy from Apple Books
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Google Play
Buy from Kobo
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Amazon

A Few of Jina’s Other Books

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

Buy now!
THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

Buy now!
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS

RESISTANCE GIRL

Buy now!
RESISTANCE GIRL

THE RUNAWAY GIRL

Buy now!
THE RUNAWAY GIRL

HER LOST LOVE

Buy now!
HER LOST LOVE

A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

Buy now!
A NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS CAROL

A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Buy now!
A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

COME FLY WITH ME

Buy now!
COME FLY WITH ME

LOVE ME FOREVER

Buy now!
LOVE ME FOREVER

SISTERS AT WAR

Buy now!
SISTERS AT WAR

SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

Buy now!
SISTERS OF THE RESISTANCE

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