The First Emma is absolutely amazing! I've recently discovered Camille Di Maio and her writing is fantastic. She is such a great storyteller, and you can tell she puts an immense amount of research into her books. Based on true events. this story is full of mystery and romance, and a must read for any historical fiction fan. Di Maio takes you through the Prohibition and the Great Depression and all of the obstacles Emma had to overcome. I don't want to give too much away, but you will finish this book with so much more knowledge than what you started with. Highly recommended!

A great story of Emma, a forerunner of the women's movement in her independence from her husband Otto, who is not a good husband and in fact has 2 mistresses, both names Emma. His wife, Emma, is strong enough to decline his request for a divorce and instead becomes a member of the board of his large brewing company. After his death she runs the company through the depression and through Prohibition. She hires a young women to write her memoir and in doing so she also effects the young women's life too. I love stories of strong women and how they struggled and worked to become strong!

I love stumbling upon a book that introduces me to a fascinating historical character that I have never heard of before. The story of Emma Koehler did precisely this for me and I now want to learn more about her and the fascinating times in which she lived. Were there other woman who played such an important (and daring role) in the business world during Prohibition? How did her male counterparts and competitors view/treat her. Where did her drive and strength come from? For sparking these questions, and for her portrait of this intriguing woman, Ms Di Maio deserves high praise. I wish that she had written an historical fiction that centered exclusively on Emma. Emma defied convention and offers a powerful role model across the decades. For me, the power of this message was weakened by the totally conventional and predictable character of Mabel. Her story, and indeed, the names of the other characters, read like a 1940 pulp fiction: Daughter whose mother is long dead and whose father is an alcoholic.Jilted by soldier fiancee (Archie), hopeful for the safe return home of brother (Buck) courted by handsome brewery heir (Bernard)., Mabel could hardly be more one dimensional. In the end, I am greatly appreciative for Netgalley for sharing this book with me. I am glad a learned about Emma (five stars) and regret the time spent reading about Mabel (1 star)

This was a very interesting book. I didn’t know any of the Emmas stories (theres 3 of them) but I want to know more. Love that the story takes place in prohibition and she successfully ran the business.

Historical fiction is not really my genre however there is the odd book that makes me rethink this stance and try something different. This is one of those books, I thoroughly loved it! Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC egalley.

Camille Di Maio is one of my favorite historical fiction authors, so I was so excited to read her new novel in advance!
To be completely honest, I didn’t love it as much as The Beautiful Strangers, because I didn’t feel as deeply connected with the characters as I was with that one and I wasn’t as much engaged in the love story, but nonetheless The First Emma was a wonderful book.
It isn’t even a real criticism, it’s just that I loved The Beautiful Strangers a little bit more, and if there is anyone here who hasn’t read it yet, I strongly recommend to do it as soon as possible!
The First Emma started off really great: Otto Koehler, a rich businessman famous for his brewing company and numerous investments, with a disabled wife and two mistresses, all of them named Emma, killed by one of his mistresses.
What’s not to like about an incipit like that?
Then the story switch to many years later, in 1942’s Baltimore, where young Mabel is alone and hopeless, at first working as a secretary but soon in need of a new job, eager for a change of luck and with not much left to lose.
When she reads the advertisement of an old woman looking for an aspiring writer to record her story, Mabel believes she may have found her chance.
So she leaves for San Antonio, where this old woman lives, and soon meets the memorable Emma Koehler.
Immensely rich, proud and determined, Emma is surrounded by nieces and nephews whom she welcomes generously in her house, while knowing that not all of them are moved by sincere affection for her, but more by the hope of receiving a bigger part of her inheritance.
She is confined to a wheelchair after a car accident and the two nurses employed to help her, petite blonde Emma Dumpke and fierce redhead Emma Burgemeister, both became her husband’s mistresses.
She is pushing eighties, but still strong-minded and ready to tell her story, how she moved from Germany to San Antonio with her husband Otto, who only lived for making money and was extraordinarily good at it, and slowly learned to make his world her own, becoming an essential part of his business.
Otto was unstoppable, always moving to the next achievement, while Emma was focused on maintaining their brewing company, Pearl, and making it grow.
I strongly disliked Otto and actually hated him with a passion from a certain point on.
He didn’t seem capable to love, at least not people, and he only truly cared for his damned investments.
I was furious with him, for how he mistreated Emma’s feelings, ignoring and hurting her with his coldness before the mistresses came into the scene and openly cheating on her after the accident, claiming that “a man has his needs”, yeah sure. He almost never gave a damn about Emma’s needs, so I nearly threw my Kindle when I read that. I would have very gladly killed him myself, if dear Emma Burgemeister didn’t see to it.
I adored and devoured the first half of this book on a plane, already anxious and sad about it having to end at some point too soon.
At first I was more engaged in Mabel’s story than in Emma’s tale, but in the second half of the novel I couldn’t wait to return to the past, eager to discover more details about the two other Emmas and Otto’s murder.
I was slightly disappointed at the end, because there wasn’t as much about the mistresses and the murder as I expected: the story revolved much more around the first Emma, as the title suggest, and her transformation from loving wife to wise and acute businesswoman both with and without Otto Koehler, especially during the Great Depression.
After reading the author’s note, I understood: there isn’t much information about Emma Koehler, despite Camille Di Maio’s admirable research, and she didn’t want to fictionalize her too much, a decision which I totally respect.
The romance was lovely and Mabel and Erik were both great characters, well-constructed, believable and each with a history and an identity of their own.
Even though I wasn’t as invested in them as I was with Kate and Sean in The Beautiful Strangers, I still liked them a great deal.
With this book, which will be out in May 2020 (and I can’t express how honored I was to read it so early!), Camille Di Maio confirms herself as a great writer of historical fiction, one who has definitely earned a special place among my favorite authors.
I highly recommend The First Emma to any lover of historical fiction and to everyone looking for a good, inspiring novel about a strong and clever woman with very much to teach about female dignity, potential, love and commitment.
A sincerely heartfelt thank you to NetGalley, Camille Di Maio and Wyatt-MacKenzie for the opportunity to read this wonderful book in advance!
I am already waiting for Camille’s next novel, sure that it won’t disappoint!

What an interesting book! Based on a real woman, Emma Koehler who was the driving force behind a Texas beer empire, it could also be called " a tale of three Emmas." Emma Koehler was married to Otto Koehler...well, at least on paper. Otto was married to his business, and to both have a meaningful life and hopefully sustain her marriage, Emma became an integral part of the business, eventually running it all behind the scenes. Set just before and during Prohibition, Emma guided the company through an environment in which every other brewer in the country went bankrupt....but Emma's company did not, and she kept every employee working through that time.

There is little information about Emma Koehler but the basic story goes like this: Emma marries Otto, but he's more interested in the business than anything else. She does what she can to hold her marriage together, until a tragic auto accident happens, leaving her terribly injured and in need of constant care. A nurse also named Emma is hired to help her, and eventually becomes Otto's mistress. A third Emma is eventually hired to help nurse Emma K, and becomes Otto's mistress as well. Eventually Otto buys the mistress Emma's a cottage, and one day Otto is murdered by one of the mistress Emma's. This part of the tale is true, and illustrated throughout the book with newspaper clippings. The rest of the story is from Di Maio's imagination, based on what she could glean from rare historical sources, and it makes for a fascinating read. This is indeed what could have been Emma Koehler's life! Told from the perspective of a young woman, Mabel, who is hired to take dictation from Emma on her life, to document the truth for future generations of Koehler's, we see how the relationship develops between the dying Emma and the young Mabel.

Most of all, "The First Emma" is a story of family...what does it mean to be family, and how family transcends mere blood relationships. It's about the need to take risks in life and relationships, and to move forward past setbacks and pain. Di Maio has taken a few facts and her great imagination to craft a story of what I would like to believe is an amazing woman's impact on life, and an inspiration for women of future generations.

I found this book disappointing. Though Emma Koehler's life was fascinating it felt very much like a recap rather than an active plot (perhaps because much of the book is told as a memories of Mrs. Koehler). I found myself wanting to be invested but feeling far away from much of the events that Mrs. Koehler describes.

As readers, we're told a lot of things and expected to believe them, rather being shown them. For example, Erik is praised as an amazing man when we first meet him, but he seems quite ordinary. Or, we're told that Emma and Mabel become friends, but they still seem very distant.

It didn't feel like there were very many stakes because every conflict resolves itself immediately. Emma Koehler is being cheated on; Emma gets more shares of the Brewery. Erik appears to be a liar; Erik just goes by a nick-name. Mabel's brother doesn't like her beau; they immediately become friends. Mabel's beau possibly had another lover; she is an un-threatening background character the rest of the book.

But the story of Emma Koehler is really fascinating. I didn't know about her at all, and there is some interest information about Breweries during prohibition.

The First Emma, by Camille Di Maio is yet another gem written by this author. Camille writes wonderful historical fiction and this one stands up to usual quality of excellence.

This is the story of not one, not two, but three women named Emma. Okay, I must admit, this confused the heck out of me, but the characters were different enough that keeping them straight was not too hard. Our main Emma is Emma Koehler., a real person, in which the story revolves around. Emma's husband Otto, dedicated to hard work and his job, became the president of the San Antonio Brewing Association, now known as the Pearl Brewing Company. After Emma K suffered from a severe accident, Emma number one was hired to be her nurse. Before long, Emma K figured out that her husband and her nurse where having an affair. It wasn't long before Emma number one was discharged from her duties. The next Emma, also employed by the Koehler's, became not only the mistress of Mr. Koehler, but his murderer as well.

The rest of the story centers around the courage and know how of Emma K as she took over her husband's brewery in the midst of prohibition. Not many women held jobs of power at this time in history and not only did she do it, but she excelled in all aspects. The novel was told from the point of Emma K, and the biographer, Mabel, who was hired to write the story of Emma K's life.

This was such a well written story and I highly recommend to any fan of Ms. Di Maio's, historical fiction , or seeing the strength and perseverance of successful, professional woman.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. All views are of my own.
#Netgalley #Thefirstemma

Such a heartwarming story that brings together a fictional character and a real woman that seemed like a force to be reckoned with. Not a lot is known about Emma Koehler and the author acknowledges this. But she seamlessly weaves the little known facts about Emma into a fictional story with Mabel so that you would never know the information out there is sparse.

This is truly an amazing story. I love that it's written based on true story.. the first Emma was a very strong woman.. she believed in doing things standing up for herself.. the author did research got what she could for this story and it is an absolutely amazing story I love this book.. the first Emma is out to hire someone to do a biography you might say on her life, she sends out, gets many responses. But the one that gets her attention is Mabel. A young girl who has been hurt by love with war.. lost her mother possibly her brother. Definitely another. Mabel moves from Baltimore to Texas.. not only is she doing the story for the first Emma which is incredibly amazing.. she meets someone by the pool.. Eric.. Emmas nephew.
I absolutely fell in love with this book the story the first Emma. There's actually three Emma's in this book It's a Wonderful story that anyone would want to read it's incredible..
Thank you Netgally
For choosing me to read this book early.. I just can't say enough about this book I truly I think this is a wonderful story thank you her writing this amazing book....
Camille Di Maio.

5.0 stars!!

I received a complimentary e-book copy of this book from Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Camille Di Maio, Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

First off, I must confess that I am a HUGE fan of this author, Camille Di Maio! I have read 4/5 of her books and have thoroughly enjoyed every single one. This book is her first historical fiction based on true events. I loved it!!

As always, Camille Di Maio writes with heart, beauty, and purpose. This book had the coolest addition - abstracts of newspaper articles based on this "shocking" story in the 1910s. It was written in flashbacks to the 1910s AND the 1940s. The novel wove the two storylines seamlessly and it was easy to follow.

It is VERY evident that Camille Di Maio researches heavily for all of her books, but this one seemed to be more difficult as there wasn't a lot of information of one of the protagonists available due to the period. I love how she turned the limited information that she had available to a fully-flushed out novel.

The subject matter was very sad and so heartbreaking, yet it made me realize that WE have control of our destiny. Life isn't always smooth, but we need those peaks and valleys to appreciate what we have!!

HIGHLY recommend, but most especially to historical fiction lovers!!

Thank you to Net Galley, Camile DiMaio and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was a interesting story based on a real women Emma Koehler. Emma ran a beer brewing empire and maintained it and it's employees thru out Prohibition after her husband is murdered. Story is told thru her point of view and from her assistant/ biographer. Fiction based on a read person. Another great book by Camille DiMaio

Another enjoyable read from Camille di Maio! I love it when I read a historical fiction novel and find out that it’s based on true events; and, especially in this case, about a woman who was way ahead of her time. The author did a wonderful job of presenting Emma Koehler’s story of betrayal and living as a woman in a man’s world by including a fictional romantic subplot. I will definitely be reading more of her novels in the future!

Absolutely enjoyed this book, historical fiction that is based on actual events but woven into a really wonderfully rich story. I loved the characters both real and imagined and I would read more from this Author in a heartbeat. The quiet strength of the women is very relatable, who doesn't love a formidable matriarch?! Really well done and edited, thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

Fans of Camille Di Maio will certainly cozy up with her newest novel. I enjoyed that this was inspired by a real historical figure, albeit a woman with few details known to her name. That left the author room to put her own stamp on the story, the result being a well-rounded, endearing, and inspiring story.

<i>“Don’t prance around things like an antelope, dear.
Are you or aren’t you?
You must speak up.
Women don’t speak up enough.”</i>

In 1914, we meet Emma Koehler, a young, optimistic bride, eager to keep the attention of her workaholic husband. A succession of unfortunate events lead to a tragic accident that changes everything and reveals who Emma has been all along.
In 1943, we meet Mabel Hartley, a young women heartbroken and left alone by the war. Answering a job advertisement to take dictation for a dying woman’s memoir, Mabel leaves all she’s known in Baltimore for a fresh start in San Antonio.
Seamlessly jumping back and forth between the past and 1943-present, Camille Di Maio does a beautiful job of telling the inspired-by-true-events story of Emma Koehler.

The title (The First Emma, alluding to a second, if not more), the multi-timeline storytelling, and the murder mystery aspect are what drew me to this book— and what kept me reading. However, I found many other elements of this book quite lacking.

As a work of historical fiction, I found the writing often needlessly reminded the reader of what time in history we’re in, in a way that kept taking me out of the story. Sentences like “<i>She shook her head, and looked down at her fingernails. They needed polishing, though such frivolities were scarce during wartime.</I>“ would jolt me out of the fictional world that was already built and working for me. I also found some of the prose in their romantic scene a bit cringey, though I found the romance between Erik and Mabel cute enough.

Nevertheless, I found the female characters intriguing— Emma, Ernestina, and even the two other Emmas. Emma Koehler’s character was particularly robust. Mabel’s character paled in comparison, with less tenacity and development. But I enjoyed reading her be challenged by Emma K and their relationship grow.

It was, overall, an enjoyable read— and sent me down a rabbit hole, looking at old photos of the real Emma and Otto Koehler, as well as the former brewhouse that is now the Hotel Emma, which was a fun treat! I recommend this to fans of «The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo» who will appreciate the structure of the book, as well as the historical exploration of a formidable woman’s life (albeit sans queer representation and Hollywood glamour aspect).

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views and opinions are my own.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. It was beautifully written and highly entertaining and I will absolutely be recommending it to all of my friends.

The introduction to this book was remarkably confusing. I couldnt keep the Emma's straight. Then we jumped to someone named Mable, who was in a bad mood and left on a train. This is all that happens in the first seven chapters - grumpy people and a dull train ride. I gave up after that. The reading level of this book is YA, and the action is non-existent, at least through the first seven chapters.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I knew nothing about this author or about Emma Koehler when I first saw this title on Netgalley. I was intrigued by the lovely cover (always a fan of judging a book) and the title. I wanted to know about this Emma and what was the significance of her being the first. What a powerful woman she was to do so much as a woman in business and for her employees at a time when women were not supposed to be in the workplace, especially as a leader. Emma had as many dreams and even more ideas then her entrepreneur husband who was more committed to his businesses then to their marriage. He eventually has affairs with the two women, both named Emma, hired to care for his wife after a bad car accident One of the nurse Emmas shoots him after trying to end the affair which is where the story begins. I love the way we hear the backstory as the now older Emma Koehler hires a young inexperienced girl to come write her story before her passing. We get Emma's narrative, the story of Mabel the young writer, and actual newspaper clippings about the murder and trial all woven together in a well crafted and captivating story that was so enjoyable to read. Historical fiction at its best.