This novel lives up to the blurbs on its cover and on its initial pages. It's just terrific. It's great story-telling with well-drawn characters (and This novel lives up to the blurbs on its cover and on its initial pages. It's just terrific. It's great story-telling with well-drawn characters (and there are a lot of them) and a brilliant sense of place. It's a book that leaps out of the starting gate and keeps going, the story of a young woman who decides she will not endure a violent, arranged marriage and will instead leave her husband and establish herself in a new life as a henna artist. There's so much to like about this book: the skilled plotting, the utterly believable story, the conflicts that the characters deal with, the difficult decisions they are forced to make. It's in part social commentary dealing with the caste system in India, and it's part an examination of the aftermath of India's freeing itself from the Raj after several hundred years of occupation by Great Britain. Sincerely, I couldn't put it down aside from when I absolutely had to. You won't regret reading it yourself. ...more
A massive amount of research went into this novel, and it shows. The author takes us from 1919 Dublin to 1935 San Francisco Bay with stops in New JersA massive amount of research went into this novel, and it shows. The author takes us from 1919 Dublin to 1935 San Francisco Bay with stops in New Jersey and New York City. We follow the life and times of an Irish boy called Shan and what happens to him when his uncle dies during their passage by boat from Ireland to America. The cast of characters comprises vaudeville performers, an Italian family that has lost a beloved son, gangsters, showgirls, criminals, bootleggers, and bank robbers. We are taken inside Leavenworth Prison and we spend time with the inmates on Alcatraz Island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. It's a novel about finding oneself, courage, and redemption. It's both gripping and touching. At the same time it's entirely believable. My hat is off to the author for truly digging into the research that takes us back in time and to places that remain in the mind long after we've finished reading. Terrific. ...more
This is a lovely novella with a wonderful sense of time and place. It touches upon a topic long hidden by the Roman Catholic church and Ireland: the MThis is a lovely novella with a wonderful sense of time and place. It touches upon a topic long hidden by the Roman Catholic church and Ireland: the Magdalen Houses where "wayward" girls were sent by their families either to straighten them out or to serve time through their unwed pregnancies until they gave birth, upon which time their babies were often taken away, never to be seen again. But this book is about more than the Magdalen Houses. It's also about Bill Furlong's discovery of who he really is and what he intends to do about a cruel injustice. It's difficult to believe that places like the Magdalen Houses actually existed, but they did. The suffering they caused young women and girls is horrifying and unforgettable. It is also unforgivable. ...more
I am frequently late to the party when it comes to reading the hot, being-talked-about books currently in the marketplace. So it's taken me some time I am frequently late to the party when it comes to reading the hot, being-talked-about books currently in the marketplace. So it's taken me some time to get around to reading this one. It's an often hilarious, often searing examination of the recent phenomenon called "cultural appropriation." For anyone who has been living inside a rain barrel for the last few years, "cultural appropriation" is the term flung at a writer who dares to write about a culture of which she is not a member. Full disclosure required here: I am guilty as charged. I have been publishing since 1988 about a country in which I have never lived, and my characters are or have been English, Scottish, Anglo-Pakistani, Black, and Italian. They are or have been working class, aristos, police officials, university professors, drug abusers, victims of sexual assault, victims of incest, jazz musicians, artists, gang members, serial killers, tabloid journalists, Nigerian immigrants, and probably others.
Yellowface exists within a world occupied by legions of back-biting and back-stabbing authors, all desperate to be noticed, all rightfully feeling either ignored or used by a publishing industry that, sadly in this day and age, looks for the next hot thing, no longer in it for the long term as publisher supporting the career of an artist who will one day, they hope, break into the Big Time. The author has a razor wit and a laser take on what has gone on in the world of publishing in the past decade and the novel deals with one writer's insane and instant decision to steal the work of another writer and pass it off as her own. The literary thief is white. The wronged writer is Asian. I don't want to spoil anything by the inclusion of details here, but suffice it to say that Rebecca Kuang delivers a cautionary tale with a deft hand, many literary and contemporary allusions, what seems to be a massive wealth of knowledge about how current social media work, and an appealing ability to appropriate a culture herself while skillfully weaving a polemic decrying it. It's a wonderful read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and high recommend it. ...more
Andrew McCabe was Deputy Director of the FBI, the man whom Donald Trump fired one day before he would have been eligible for his retirement package. [Andrew McCabe was Deputy Director of the FBI, the man whom Donald Trump fired one day before he would have been eligible for his retirement package. [McCabe sued the government and his retirement package was reinstated. This book, however, is not a diatribe about Donald Trump. Rather it is a fascinating look at how the FBI actually works. "Bring in the FBI!" has been a bit of a watchword throughout my life, but I was absolutely clueless as to what that meant when, indeed, the FBI is brought in on a case. Although we have in recent years been encouraged to think otherwise by Mr Trump, the way the FBI is set up and the way it coordinates its actions with the knowledge and often the participation of the justice department was news to me. The author takes the reader step by step through various scenarios and actual cases to illustrate his explanations of the bureau. It becomes clear that, at every level, those who work for the FBI must be intelligent, well-educated, and in full command of how the bureau works. It's not a political body. It serves ONLY to people of the United States. It is supposed to be loyal only to the Constitution and the country itself. McCabe's book makes this clear. What I liked the most about the book is that the author doesn't take sides. He was an employee of the FBI through multiple administrations, and when writing about them, he merely gives the facts without taking sides. He expresses deep concerns when politics enter the picture, whether those politics deal with a Democrat administration or a Republican administration. I finished the book with a greater appreciation for the intelligence, talent, and experience of the agents and with a great deal of respect for the time and energy they put in to keep the country as safe as possible. McCabe worked for the FBI during 9/11; he was on the case of the Boston Marathon bomber; he was in attendance after the San Bernardino Christmas Party shootings; etc. Essentially, he knows what he's talking about and if you've ever wondered what the FBI actually does for the USA, this is the book to read. I heartily recommend it. ...more
The author of this family-history-as-novel has created something truly memorable in this re-imagining of her family's history. It coasts through time,The author of this family-history-as-novel has created something truly memorable in this re-imagining of her family's history. It coasts through time, from 1916 to 1989, as it traces the lives, loves, triumphs, disappointments, cruelties, pleasures, and survival of the Coleman family and the Grimes family as they transfer their roots in Florida and Alabama to Union, New Jersey, where they establish themselves in a community called Vauxhall. The novel centers around a branch of the family that grows from the marriage of Celia and Jim. Celia is a force to be reckoned with. She lives by "spare the rod/spoil the child" so regular beatings for infractions great and small are a primary feature in the lives of her children and her grandchildren. There is love in the Coleman family, but it can be expressed through violence as well as through tenderness.
The two families merge in the shotgun marriage of Jeb (a Coleman) and Bertha (a Grimes). This marriage fulfills a childhood dream of Bertha's to have Jeb as her husband, but the marriage becomes a nightmare due to Jeb's ties to his mother, the prone-to-violence Celia. It's an enthralling story, beautifully rendered in time and place as we walk in the footsteps of one member of the family after another.
My only criticism of the book has to do with the number of characters (family members all) whose stories are told and must therefore include the various cousins, aunts, and uncles who were part of the Coleman/Grimes world. I found myself repeatedly referring to the family tree provided by the author but even having that tool to help me, it was tough keeping everyone straight with regard to how they were related to one another. I could have used a truncated family tree at the start of each chapter in order to understand better how the people in that chapter fit into the overall picture of the family.
That said, the novel is quite an achievement, and I recommend it. ...more
I picked up this book when I was in England recently, quite taken in as I was by the subtitle "She's Not Your Average Damsel in Distress." It's writt I picked up this book when I was in England recently, quite taken in as I was by the subtitle "She's Not Your Average Damsel in Distress." It's written in the form of a diary composed by the eponymous character who is 13 years old when the novel opens. She is the only daughter and youngest child of "Rollo and the Lady Aislinn", desperately trying to avoid marriage. Her father is determined that she's the right age to marry, but Catherine has managed to present herself as undesirable to suitor after suitor. She has tried her father's limited patience to such an extent that he finally decrees that she will marry a much older man, with a large estate that Rollo wishes to combine with his own. Clearly, Catherine must obey the males in her life, for such is the role of women in the year 1290.
What's most enjoyable about the book is the world of 1290 that the author creates: with all of its smells and sights, oddities and irregularities. I felt immersed in every location, particularly the manor house where Catherine lives. I was engaged by her hijinks and amused by the relationships she has with the other characters, especially the long-suffering Morwenna and the up-for-anything Perkin.
I can see middle school kids easily becoming involved in this world and cheering on Catherine as she attempts to be her own person in a life that demands she be seen and not heard, submissive to males, and utterly resigned to a future over which she has no control. ...more
In the interest of full disclosure, the author is a dear friend of mine. As a crime writer, I found this novel wildly entertaining. As someone who greIn the interest of full disclosure, the author is a dear friend of mine. As a crime writer, I found this novel wildly entertaining. As someone who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I absolutely loved her rendering of place, particularly Holy City in the vicinity of Highway 17, the concrete ship, downtown Santa Cruz, and the various beaches. These locations were all part of my past, and seeing them again--in the hands of sch a skilled writer--was great fun for me. The mystery itself is bifurcated as the main character Rima attempts to untangle her father's role in the life and times of noted (and very quirky) crime writer A.B. Early, how he and Addison (that's the "A" in A.B. Early) fit into the history of Holy City, the death of Rima's mother, and the mysterious "disappearance" of a tiny figure from a miniature crime-scene tableau. Karen Joy Fowler is a writer who is simultaneously hilarious and tender. Every book of hers is different from the last book. I enjoyed the heck out of this one. ...more
Everyone should read this book. No matter your political leaning, you should read this book. It's written by the President of Repairers of the Breach Everyone should read this book. No matter your political leaning, you should read this book. It's written by the President of Repairers of the Breach and founding director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. It's an eye-opening explanation of how political forces in the US managed--over decades--to change the voting patterns of socio-economic groups so that those in poverty were positioned to blame and to hate people who had nothing to do with their poverty in the first place. By examining the issue of poverty, the author reveals that the largest racial demographic within the group defined as America's poor is white and hiding in plain sight as: "...the mother who bags your groceries in the check-out line but doesn't know how she's going to feed her kids if she pays to fix the car that's her only ride to work tomorrow" or "the construction day laborer without health insurance for him and his family" or "the worker...who is forced to choose between buying her medication or paying her rent." He explodes the myth that poverty is the fault of the people who are poor. One by one, he takes four of the major myths about poverty in America and he explains how the myth came about. He also explains how the division between people in the country serves the interests of powerful and the wealthy while doing nothing at all to solve problems which have always been solvable. This is a book that corporate interests, billionaires, elected officials whose interest is only staying in power do not want you to read. This is a book that will be banned from school and college libraries. But it's not sensational, it's not even "woke". What it is is an indictment of the system that casts blame instead of engaging in the kind of self-examination that would bring about change. As I said in my first sentence: everyone should read this book. ...more
Anyone thinking that Agatha Christie was merely a quiet English lady who wrote diverting cozies featuring a little old lady or a Belgian detective witAnyone thinking that Agatha Christie was merely a quiet English lady who wrote diverting cozies featuring a little old lady or a Belgian detective with an egg-shaped head or a somewhat madcap couple called Tommy and Tuppence is in for a big surprise. Agatha Christie, it turns out, was a powerhouse of a writer who not only wrote crime and mystery novels but also composed poetry, created successful plays produced all over the world (Why did I not know she wrote "Witness for the Prosecution"??), assisted in the development of her books-to-film, wrote stand-alone thrillers, and financed and took part in myriad archealogical expeditions. The author of this biography has done a massive amount of research on her subject, with the cooperation of Agatha Christie's family and her friends, not to mention her publisher. She reveals the legendary Queen of the Cozy with all her positive attributes as well as all of her warts. At the same time, the author places Christie firmly within the times during which she lived, spanning the late Victorian period, seeing her involved in volunteer work during two world wars, falling in love with a handsome cad who broke her heart, being both celebrated and reviled, and all the time establishing herself as one of the most successful "working women" of the 20th Century. This is a fascinating book, as fascinating as it is thorough. The author's respect for her subject is evident throughout. What I did not know prior to reading it was how worthy of respect that subject actually was. ...more
I'd heard a podcast about The Wager, the name of the book and the name of the doomed ship as well. The podcast--from Against the Odds--was excellent, I'd heard a podcast about The Wager, the name of the book and the name of the doomed ship as well. The podcast--from Against the Odds--was excellent, but it pales in comparison to the book. The author has done a mind-boggling amount of research on the wreck of The Wager and the mutiny that followed it. The descriptions of what the sailors experienced as they attempted to round Cape Horn are spectacular and the diseases they suffered (scurvy in particularly) are rendered in specific and ghastly detail. The reader learns about how press gangs kidnapped young men, old men, and in-between men to force them to work on ships heading into dangerous waters; the meaning of terms like "toe the line" and "Scuttlebutt"; why the Brits were called "limeys"; and how the European racial prejudice and general dismissive response to anyone who wasn't white ended up being part of their own destruction. It's a terrific read, and I sped through it. I love good non-fiction and this book is among the best of that genre. ...more
I picked up this novel while at Heathrow Airport, largely because of the many positive blurbs, not only from fellow writers but also from newspaper anI picked up this novel while at Heathrow Airport, largely because of the many positive blurbs, not only from fellow writers but also from newspaper and magazine book reviews, all of which are featured on the front cover and on the first three pages. Pretty impressive. While the plot spins along and the characters are well-drawn, I found that I wasn't as gripped by the story as I wanted to be. I assume this might be because I was reading the book during the run-up to the 2024 Presidential election. Perhaps nothing could have gripped me during that. I will say that the author quite skillfully played out her information to keep the reader guessing and that there were a several gripping scenes during which characters were in danger. I did find the demise of one of the characters quite satisfying, and I appreciated the growth of the characters as they got to know one another and became willing to take on their stalkers. It's definitely a novel for the age of social media, one in which the women take charge in ways that I quite admired. ...more
As someone who absolutely loves Cornwall (I've set three of my own novels there), I found Raynor Winn's memoir of walking the Southwest Coast Path comAs someone who absolutely loves Cornwall (I've set three of my own novels there), I found Raynor Winn's memoir of walking the Southwest Coast Path compelling and remarkable. With no home and no money to speak of, she and her critically ill husband set off on what some people would call the adventure of a lifetime and others would call insanity on four feet. The Southwest Coast Path is not for sissies. All she and her husband have is what they're able to fit into two lightweight backpacks and a book that describes the route. Off they go. Raynor's prose is wonderful. Her powers of description are breathtaking and admirable. One would think that rising from a sleeping bag every day to do the exact same thing--walk the path--would be one hell of a boring thing to read about. But then, this is Cornwall, where the weather can change on a ten pence piece, where cliffsides can collapse, where the sun bears down unforgivably in the summer and the wind and rain roar unforgivingly in the winter. The husband and wife make crazy decisions that had me shouting "Don't do it for God's sake"; they spend their last pennies on ice cream and fudge; they eat endless packages of noodles; they do not protect their skin (perhaps they really cannot afford to buy the products to do so); they forget hats; they lose things; and through it all they survive, grow stronger, and prove that a body's age is only as old and fragile as an individual is willing to allow it to be. I was all admiration for both of them. This was--and is--an unforgetable read. ...more
This novel ticks off every ingredient of a fabulous reading experience: beautifully realized characters, fantastic research that does not flaunt itselThis novel ticks off every ingredient of a fabulous reading experience: beautifully realized characters, fantastic research that does not flaunt itself but rather is buried within the story itself, incredibly well-developed plots in both narratives (it takes place in 21st Century America and 16th Century England), a terrific sense of place, perfect pacing, believable dialogue in both periods of time...Essentially, you name it and the author has managed to do it.
The author proposes the "unthinkable": that William Shakespeare did not write either the sonnets or the plays that have been attributed to him for the last 400+ years. Indeed, she offers a stunning alternative to the Bard: Emilia Bassano who, in the 1980s, Shakespearean scholar A.L. Rowse declared was the "dark lady of the sonnets," with much fanfare, it must be said. Picoult has done her research with regard to the otherwise elusive Mr. Shakespeare. She fills both narratives with tantalizing facts and details that are hard to refute. Indeed, by the end of the novel, one conclusion is practically inarguable: whoever wrote the 37 plays, it probably was not the man from Stratford-upon-Avon. It stabs me in the heart to write that, as a longtime student of Shakespeare, a teacher of Shakespeare, and an audience member whenever and wherever the plays attributed to him are performed. Nonetheless, I have to say that I'll never look at the plays quite the same way henceforth.
What I liked the most about the novel is the idea that a woman might have written the plays and the sonnets because authorship by a woman or by more than one playwright-including a woman-- actually makes sense. How could a man alone create so many unforgettable female characters: Lady Macbeth, Desdemona, her maid Emilia, Portia, Ophelia, Juliet, Beatrice, etc.? Especially how could a man of limited means and less education have done so?
It's as intriguing a question--at least to this reader--as is the fate of the Princes in the Tower. The fact that Picoult raises these questions and that the questions linger speaks more highly of her novel than I ever good. Brava!...more
Matilda Leyser's novel is an ambitious one: taking the story of Persephone, Demeter, and Hades and altering it into a modern tale about these three chMatilda Leyser's novel is an ambitious one: taking the story of Persephone, Demeter, and Hades and altering it into a modern tale about these three characters in which they intermingle with mortals who do not know they are gods. The location is England, somewhere near Oxford. Demeter tends to her land, to her life, and to the life of her daughter. Persephone is bound to two worlds as in mythology: the world of her mother, which aligns with Spring and Summer and the world of her "husband", which aligns with autumn and winter. But into these worlds intrudes a band of ecowarriors bent upon stopping the construction of a road that is going to destroy a forest which is close to Demeter's land. These worlds don't collide as much as they coalesce.
The tale is imaginative; the characters are perfectly drawn; the stakes are incredibly high. There is drama aplenty and beautiful descriptions of the world of the ecowarriors and the underworld in which Hades lives and longs for a connection to someone, particularly to Persephone. This is largely Persephone's journey to self-actualization, a state in which she is no longer her mother's protected child or Hades' helpless victim but rather a fully realized individual who finally knows what she wants and is willing to fight for it.
The book isn't gripping in that I felt no need to fly through the pages. Rather, it's a narrative to be savored, penned by the intelligent hand of a writer who has done her research and used it beautifully. ...more
For romance lovers and in particular lovers of "The Bridges of Madison County", this is a book you will enjoy. The difficulty I had with it comes fromFor romance lovers and in particular lovers of "The Bridges of Madison County", this is a book you will enjoy. The difficulty I had with it comes from the plot. The author has lifted the entire plot from "The Bridges of Madison County" and set it on a fictional island in the Pacific Northwest. The photographer from the first book becomes a sailor in this book. The Italian housewife from the first book becomes a vegetable growing housewife in this book. The absent husband and son from the first book become the husband and son on a fishing trip in the second book. There is mutual attraction in every scene, culminating finally in the expected passion-must-have-its-way moment. As in "The Bridges of Madison County", the Pacific Northwest housewife must make a decision: either leave her life for a new life on a boat with her newly-found lover or remain where she is with her decent-but-no-fireworks husband and her son. The ending of the novel is, alas, never in doubt.
While the landscape of the Pacific Northwest island is nicely depicted, in the end it doesn't save the book from being the re-telling of a story we've already read. ...more
This is a wonderful start to a crime series featuring two wounded souls who are put together by an attorney serving as the divorce lawyer for one of tThis is a wonderful start to a crime series featuring two wounded souls who are put together by an attorney serving as the divorce lawyer for one of them. The duo comprises a man and a woman who have both been targeted by their communities because of their alleged involvement in separate crimes. The man--Ted--is a former cop who was arrested and jailed pending trial for the brutal rape of an eight-year-old girl. There is no trial due to lack of evidence and an absence of witnesses, but no one believes he's innocent. So although he's released, he's a marked man. The woman is Amanda. She has served time for the brutal murder of a popular teenager when she herself was a teenager. Out of prison now, she has opened an investigation agency and has been hired to prove that the sudden disappearance of a celebrated writer is actually the death of that writer.
There are many things I admired about the novel. It takes place in a crocodile-infested tropical area of Australia in a place called Crimson Lake, and the author brings this location alive with chilling and skin-crawling details (including a python slithering on the porch of Ted's cabin). The characters are both real and unforgettable, particularly bicycle-riding Amanda whose body is covered in colorful tattoos. The author even makes a goose (called Woman) and her goslings not only memorable but such attractive little characters that one wants to protect them as much as Ted does. There's an aging forensic pathologist who doesn't suffer fools, some seriously dangerous cops who would like to throw both Amanda and Ted to the crocodiles, two lovestruck teenagers determined to be together at all costs, and a dead girl's sister who only wants to be left alone with her nightmares. It's clearly the set-up for a series, and frankly, I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes her terrific crime-fighting duo. ...more
The author takes an idea offered in "Finn", a novel by Jon Clinch, and takes it in an entirely different direction. The eponymous narrator of this booThe author takes an idea offered in "Finn", a novel by Jon Clinch, and takes it in an entirely different direction. The eponymous narrator of this book is Jim, the slave from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (Clinch used Huck's father in his novel, by the way), and the book is a marvel. Jim speaks in the vernacular of his fellow slaves, and at the same time he (as well as all the slaves) also speak grammatically correct and pronounced English. The slave language is what they use when they are around white people: whether those people are their owners or individuals they interact with during their lives. Indeed, Jim must actually teach his daughter Lizzie to speak slave language so that she knows how to interact with whites as well. Much of the book involves Huck and Jim on the run. The author takes that adventure and spins it around so that we see it all from Jim's point of view. Throughout the novel, we learn about his background, about Huck's background, and about the influences and impact they each have on the other. It's a rollicking adventure that this reader could not put down. It's at times disturbing, at times amusing, at times suspenseful, at times fury-producing. It calls forth a reaction from the reader, especially when as it illustrates man's inhumanity toward man. It requires us to ask what makes us human and whether our very humanity requires us to observe and accept the humanity in other people. It holds up a mirror to America's centuries of slavery and demands we acknowledge that disgraceful history. And it does all of it without ever once becoming a polemic. It is elegantly written and beautifully observed. Everyone should read it, especially now. ...more
This is a terrific novel from a gifted story teller. It takes place in the early part of the 20th Century, in an area not far from Philadelphia that hThis is a terrific novel from a gifted story teller. It takes place in the early part of the 20th Century, in an area not far from Philadelphia that has been long settled by former slaves and immigrant Jews. Among them are people with pasts that they keep hidden, raucous entrepreneurs who cross color lines to provide musical entertainment for everyone, a lovely Jewish housewife/storekeeper who "forgets" to charge people for what they come into her store to buy, a deaf young boy on the run from those who want to put him in an institution, a silent and strong Black man who is escaping his past, and a sexually abusive doctor who commits an unspeakable crime against a defenseless woman. This is one of those novels that require the reader to keep all the characters straight (I suggest employing a list of characters as you read) but once that's accomplished, the story unfolds as compelling: sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, and always engaging. The sense of place is beautifully done. The period of time is brilliantly portrayed. The prose is straightforward and without pretense. The plot is complicated but completely satisfying with all subplots brought to a conclusion that is simultaneously believable and welcome. ...more
I absolutely loved this book. There are five pages of quotes from reviews and other writers at the beginning of the novel, and I agree with every one I absolutely loved this book. There are five pages of quotes from reviews and other writers at the beginning of the novel, and I agree with every one of them. I could not put the book down. It's a delight to read: both funny and intelligent. And it's intelligently written. There is much food for thought in these pages. There is also hilarious commentary and equally hilarious description of the famous hike from St. Bees to Robin Hood's Bay in England. One of my neighbors did that hike a few years ago, and her description of it pretty much aligns with what the author has to say. The book is about life, loneliness, coping with loss, and dawning love. I don't want to say another word about it aside from what it takes to urge you read it. You won't regret that for a second. ...more
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