#BookReview: Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby

So good to visit Liz’s review of Ida: Searchng for The Jazz Baby. A wonderful review with depth and texture to catch hold of.

How about the ‘Red Hot Mama’ performance by Ray Miller and the Orchestra? That’s a good get, Liz.

Pop over to Liz’s place and check out the review and her wonderful work.

Thanks again, Liz.

Elizabeth Gauffreau

My Review

Click cover to buy from Amazon.

Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby by Australian poet Frank Prem is based on an intriguing premise: whether or not it’s possible to uncover the past life of someone who has lost her identity to madness or senility.

In this instance of lost identity, one of three women named Ida institutionalized in the Melbourne-Mayday Hills Asylum is rumored by a group of young  amateur nurse-detectives to be none other than Ida Pender, paramour of notorious Melbourne gangster Lesley Squizzy Taylor, who was killed in a gunfight  in 1927.

Ah, but which Ida is THE Ida, whom poet Prem later calls “my Ida”? Is she the one with  “spindle legs”  and  “hands / shaped / into claws // just about / to strangle you? (“ida spider (I knew her when)”) Is she the poor soul who squawks like a parrot until the nurses…

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Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby – Liz’s review

Thank you Liz Gauffreau for a wonderful and deep review of Ida. Thinking about this review, I couldn't help but be aware that this kind of examination of the work allows me - as author - to better understand my own motivations in choosing and writing about the subject. I'm very grateful for that. Find …

Ida – Alex’s review

Thank you to Alex Craigie for her lovely review of Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby. Alex is an author whose own writing crosses genres - romance/thriller/suspense, and I am delighted that she has enjoyed reading Ida. You'll find her review on Goodreads here. Thank you, Alex.

Rankings on IngramSpark. Not too bad.

Sales Rankings on IS. Go Ida! Go From Volyn!! - 11/02/2023 I've been tracking paperback sales on the Ingram site fairly closely since Ida and From Volyn to Kherson came out. I hadn't realised, until then, that they had accessible ranking data. I'm delighted that Ida has reached #1 in her biography category (she was …

Smorgasbord Book Promotions – New Books on the Shelves – #Poetry #FreeVerse – Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby – From Volyn to Kherson: Interpretations of the war in Ukraine by Frank Prem

My thanks to the wonderful Sally Cronin and the Smorgasbord Blog Magazine for helping to promote my current new releases, Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby, and From Volyn to Kherson: Interpretations of the war in Ukraine.

I encourage you to visit the Magazine and take a look around. Sally is one of the great supporters of Indie authors and publishers.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Pleased to share the news of two new free verse collections by Frank Prem –  Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby and From Volyn to Kherson: Interpretations of the war in Ukraine.

About the collection

Who is Ida Pender? Is she the elderly woman – Ida-Spider – rumoured to be resident in a 1970’s Mental Asylum?

Is she Squizzy Taylor’s teenaged gangster moll of the roaring 1920’s in Melbourne? The woman the police declared had shapely legs? She is Ida. The Jazz Baby.

Frank Prem explores the story of Ida Pender, largely forgotten now, but once the notorious associate of a 1920s Melbourne gnagster. From the young girl sneaking out of her bedroom window to go dancing at the Palais de Danse, companion, accomplice, then wife and mother to Squizzy Taylor’s child by her early twenties, Ida is an extraordinary woman and a marvellous story.

One of the recent reviews…

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A ‘Paperback’ bestseller list on IngramSpark

In tootling around Ingram Sparks (IS) new report structure I came across a listing of rankings of book sales against one of the designated categories for the book (Australasian Poetry, True Crime etc). I hadn't been aware this was available. On Amazon it is possible to list a number of different categories for the book …

Sunday Book Review – Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby #freeversepoetry

Thank you D.G Kaye (Debby) for a wonderful review of ‘Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby’.

She was a character who set fire to my imagination and I’m so glad Debby enjoyed her story, as well.

I encourage readers to pop over to read the review and check some of Debby’s writing and other activities, as she is an excellent writer and blogger in her own right.

DGKayewriter.com

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Frank Prem’s new release – Ida: Searching for the Jazz Baby. In this story of historical fiction written in free verse poetry, Frank touches on the life of Ida Pender, aka Jazz Baby, and her wild lifestyle in the 1920s. Complete with newspaper clippings and stories to accompany.

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Blurb:

Who is Ida Pender? Is she the elderly woman – Ida-Spider – rumoured to be resident in a 1970’s Mental Asylum?

Is she Squizzy Taylor’s teenaged gangster moll of the roaring 1920’s in Melbourne? The woman the police declared had shapely legs? She is Ida. The Jazz Baby.

Frank Prem explores the story of Ida Pender, largely forgotten now, but once the notorious associate of a 1920s Melbourne gnagster. From the young girl sneaking out of her bedroom window to go dancing at the Palais de Danse, companion, accomplice, then wife…

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Ida and From Volyn – paperback links

The paperback and digital editions of Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby, and From Volyn to Kherson don't seem to be linking up on the relevant Amazon/Kindle page, so I thought I should post the links, today. The paperback booksare generally available and searching by title with the word 'paperback' included will reveal all, but …

Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby – release day!

Ida to a T. 02/01/2023 Launch day! Ida is officially released in digital form in this 24 hours. Here is the Amazon (Australia) Link. Here is the Universal Link that lets you choose your own store. I thought I might check out how some merchandise might look (pretty lame, but fun). I tried the T-shirt …

Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby – a week away

Ida: Searching for The Jazz Baby - Paperback release date 13th January 2023. Here comes Ida All the automatic widgets at Amazon and Smashwords and Bookbub and various other places where books are listed pre-release are telling me that the release date for Ida is just a week away. This little book has been a …