Metropolis: A Novel
by B. A. Shapiro
Building Lives (3/31/2022)
The lives of six people are intertwined because of their involvement in the Metropolis Storage Company building in a gentrifying part of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although I was a bit confused by the timeline, it held my interest and kept me involved because of the suspense of what was to happen with the elevator. The outcome wasn't what I thought it would be. The characters were engaging—each different, each a bit needy, living conflicted lives. I would recommend this book for light reading.
The Last Chance Library
by Freya Sampson
A Delightful Read (8/14/2021)
June Jones is an assistant at Chalcot Library in a small English town. She sees everyone through her perspective of what books they check out and what literary characters they resemble. Although painfully shy, she speaks out when her library is threatened. A charming story, told with humor, that is at times predictable but in a heart-warming way. For everyone who loves books and libraries.
Women Rowing North: Navigating Life's Currents and Flourishing As We Age
by Mary Pipher
Women of a Certain Age (6/2/2019)
I am in the target age group (above 65) for this book about women dealing with their declining years. I had hoped to find great revelations, instead I found familiar ideas told with kindness and wisdom. The book is full of her examples of "real women," not those who have a lot of money or a wealth of options. What saves most of them is love. Each chapter opens with a quotation or two, which I especially liked, especially those by Eleanor Roosevelt. I found it sweet almost to the point of insipid.
The French Girl
by Lexie Elliott
Murder of "The Mademoiselle Next Door" (10/2/2017)
Intelligent 30-something Oxford graduates vacation together in France after graduation. A woman of about their age, the "mademoiselle next door," is murdered about the time they leave. Ten years later, they again come under scrutiny when the woman's body is found on the property. I enjoyed this a lot, it kept me guessing, so I couldn't put it down. The characters were likeable and well developed throughout the novel.
Manderley Forever
by Tatiana de Rosnay
Reads Like a Novel (12/9/2016)
Manderley Forever, a biography of Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) was written by bestselling novelist Tatiana de Rosnay (Sarah's Key, among others). In her introduction de Rosnay writes "This book reads like a novel, but I did not invent any of it." It's true, it reads like a novel and is a most enjoyable read. I disagree, however, with the second part of her sentence. There are times when she recounts the thoughts of du Maurier, even on her deathbed, when I don't think it's possible that she could know them. That, and the almost fairytale life du Maurier leads until after World War II seem to me more like a novel, i.e., fiction, than biography. As a biography, it seems a bit rosy and superficial. Given that, it's a well-written novel about a writer whose fiction, like de Rosnay's, is compelling to read and enjoy.
Trust No One: A Thriller
by Paul Cleave
Rubic's Cube of a Thriller (6/16/2015)
From the very first page I knew I was in the hands of a master. This story of a crime writer and his increasing memory problems because of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease is a real page-turner because of the heightening suspense: Did he kill those women? Why doesn't he remember? Or was the murderer his alter ego, Henry Cutter, his pen name? Fiction, memory, and reality are mixed in the deteriorating mind of the narrator Jerry Grey. What could have been a maudlin story about the increasing isolation of the disease becomes instead a many-faceted puzzle that kept me guessing and trying out solutions, like a maddening but addicting Rubic's Cube. I couldn't put it down
Her Name Is Rose
by Christine Breen
"Philomena" In Reverse (2/25/2015)
"Her Name Is Rose" reminded me of the recent movie "Philomena." But rather than the mother seeking her adoptive child, this story is about the adoptive mother trying to find her daughter's natural mother. If you like music — both classical and jazz — and flowers and gardens, you'll enjoy "Her Name Is Rose." If you're a mother —adoptive or natural —you'll love "Her Name Is Rose. And if you've ever white-knuckled your way through a diagnostic mammogram, you'll see yourself in "Her Name Is Rose." Set mainly in the west of Ireland with stopovers in London and Boston, this novel envelops you like a warm Irish mohair shawl.Although it verges on the sentimental and is rife with coincidences, "Her Name Is Rose" will warm the cockles of your heart.
Letters from Skye
by Jessica Brockmole
Love Letters We'd Love to Get (6/16/2013)
Letters from Skye is made up of letters between David Graham who is studying at the University of Illinois and Elspeth Dunn, a young woman poet living an isolated life on the Scottish island of Skye. The letters range from 1912 to 1940. These are the romantic love letters we'd all love to get. It's not a long book—I couldn't put it down. I marveled at how the author could convey so much character, history, and emotion just using letters. I didn't think the letters rang totally true to their times but that didn't diminish my complete enjoyment.
A Nearly Perfect Copy
by Allison Amend
A not-so-perfect novel (3/11/2013)
The novel has two protagonists: a mother living on the Upper East Side of New York and a down-and-out artist living in Paris. The settings are rendered especially well. Where I had problems was with the protagonists. Although the author tries to make them sympathetic due to the circumstances of their lives—the mother has lost a child, the artist deals with poverty—I never found them sympathetic enough to root for them as they make significant life choices. The novel is well written but ultimately I disliked the characters too much to like the book.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel
by Rachel Joyce
A Walk into One's Depth (7/14/2012)
As I read along, I was captivated by the prose and the premise: a retired man walking great distances to be at the bedside of a woman he worked with who was in hospice. I wondered how the author would be able to sustain the story - step after step, what could be of interest? I found myself drawn into the depths of this ordinary man who decides one day to do an extraordinary thing. And in doing so he finds himself and he reclaims his life.
Afterwards: A Novel
by Rosamund Lupton
Beautiful and Sad (4/28/2012)
A beautiful and sad book that I couldn’t put down. A woman and her teenaged daughter are badly burned in a school fire. While in the hospital, they get together in an out-of-body experience to solve the mystery of the fire and why and how it happened. A very moving story about love and loss.
Little Black Dress: A Novel
by Susan McBride
A Tale of Two Generations (7/25/2011)
I enjoyed reading The Little Black Dress by Susan McBride, even though I found it a bit contrived and predictable. The story weaves between two generations of women: Evie, who opens the book, looking back at her life from the age of 72, and Antonia, her daughter, who has escaped the confines of southern Missouri wine country to find herself in the big city of St. Louis. Anna, Evie’s sister who is seen mainly in memory and whom Antonia has never met, plays a major role in the story. The novel deeply explores mother-daughter love and the search for a soulmate, and I found this exploration to be the book’s greatest strength.
The Trinity Six
by Charles Cumming
Interesting Use of History (2/23/2011)
Fast moving thriller with likeable, albeit shallow characters. An academic in need of money stumbles into a story about World War II and Cold War espionage. Based on actual circle of five Cambridge graduates who became spies for Russia, including Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt. Was there a sixth? The people from the historical context of the treasonous spying are in their 90s so few are left. I think author got it right about the need for the spies of that era to tell their stories before they die. Mixture of 21st century technology: computers, cell phones, DVDs, with the records of mid-20th century espionage. Compelling because of the action, but most of the characters seemed unconvincing, especially the women but also the protagonist.
The Spare Room: A Novel
by Helen Garner
An Australian Exploding Doormat (1/9/2009)
The Spare Room by Helen Garner, an Australian writer who I hadn’t read before, is a fast and intense read. I really didn’t want to put it down. The story is completely focused on the relationship between the first person protagonist, Helen, and Nicola, an old friend who is suffering from stage four cancer.
Nicola, who lives outside Sydney, comes to stay with Helen, who lives near Melbourne, when she is undergoing an alternative therapy for cancer. This is an “exploding doormat” story: Helen is the dutiful friend who finds that more and more of her time and energy are used to accommodate Nicola’s needs, physical and mental. Finally, when Nicola’s niece comes to stay, she realizes that she’s been put in position beyond her abilities and she explodes with anger.
I writhed with recognition at a situation that seemed so realistic to me – who can measure how far a friendship should go? I particularly liked the setting of Australia, where what is everyday to the characters came across as exotic to an American reader. I would have liked a bit more backstory about how the relationship between the two friends developed, but that might have cut the intensity of the plot, which was tightly focused on the relationship between the two women. Although the story is primarily about friendship, the details of the progress of cancer and the desperation of the treatment are extremely intense for someone looking for an escapist novel
 (1).gif)
