First Frost
by Sarah Addison Allen
A visit With Friends (12/31/2014)
This was a fun return visit with the Waverleys. The precocious 5-year-old Bay from the original Garden Spells is a teenager, struggling with High School and first love. Claire is immersed and possibly drowning in a new business venture. Sydney is happily married, but not surprisingly, still trying to redeem her past. I enjoyed spending time with these characters again. It wasn't as magical for me as the first book. Probably because much of the story is concerned with Bay's teenaged angst. I did enjoy the way Allen brings the story full circle with the characters in the original book. If you liked the first one, you should enjoy this one.
I had an advanced reader's copy. The book is set to be published in January 2015.
The Miniaturist
by Jessie Burton
Too Much for a Small House (9/11/2014)
Amsterdam, in the late 17th century, is a city of hidden opulence and religious repression. Eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman enters a prosperous, but sham marriage, with the merchant Johannes Brandt. When her husband presents her with a replica cabinet house, she finds that the mystery and deceit that surrounds her is duplicated in the miniatures she acquires to furnish the house. If this book had been a simple romantic coming of age story, I would have no quarrel with it. This is an interesting historical setting and I cared about eventual outcome for these characters. The quality of the writing holds up well enough for a summer beach read, but given the heavy thematic content of the plot, I was looking more.
It’s likely that my expectations were too high. The historical setting brings Chevalier’s Girl with a Pearl Earring to mind. The level of deceit and secrecy in the household made me think of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I looked for that level of excellence in the prose, and I didn’t find it. The title of the book lead me to believe that the miniaturist would be an active character. In fact, she becomes a rather awkward plot device that doesn’t quite achieve the level of magical realism. This book is full of complex themes, probably too many of them. The author’s treatment of the religious and sexual repression of the Brant siblings felt a bit too 21st century.
This book did hold my attention. I cared about these characters and their spiraling tragedy. It’s just a shame that the writing didn’t quite support the depth of their story.
I had an advanced reader copy of this book. It is set to be published in August 2014.
The Fortune Hunter
by Daisy Goodwin
Pleasant and Predictable (5/19/2014)
Charlotte Baird is accustomed to the attentions of society bachelors. They are interested in her money. It is most unfortunate that the true object of her affections is co-opted by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria. Poor Bay Middleton, how is he to choose; the one with the money or the one with the title? Can either woman compete with his affection for his horse?
This is a predictable, but pleasant Victorian society romance. There are lush settings, interesting historical details and a stereotypical set of characters. Charlotte Baird, the underaged heiress, is saddled with an overbearing, greedy brother and a jealous future sister-in-law. She is more interested in photography than in finding a husband, but it will be some years before she will have the control of her own money. Captain Bay Middleton is an impoverished, cavalryman who has an unfortunate reputation with other men's wives. And, then there is the Empress who is truly a fascinating and tragic historical figure.
I enjoyed the details of the Victorian's growing interest in portrait photography. It was interesting to read about the challenges of the English fox hunt. But, it is a bit difficult to believe there could be any real attraction between the bluestocking heiress and the dashing Captain, even if historically, they were eventually married. Goodwin's portrayal of the Empress Elizabeth makes me want to look for a more complete and factual account of her life. It's unfortunate that such a fascinating character should end up in such a pedestrian book.
A Hundred Flowers: A Novel
by Gail Tsukiyama
Resilience and stubbornness to survive (8/10/2012)
“She marveled at nature's resiliency, its sheer stubbornness to survive.”
Those are the thoughts of Auntie Song, one of the characters in Gail Tsukiyama’s newest book. It is the story of an extended family told from five different perspectives through a year of many changes. Some of the challenges they face are common to many lives; a child’s accident, grief at the death of a spouse, the birth of a child. Other concerns are unique to the cataclysmic social changes of Mao Tse-Tung’s regime.
The family consists of Kai Ying, the mother of Tao, her elderly father-in law, Wei, and Auntie Song, a courtesy aunt who occupies a portion of their family home. As the year progresses a pregnant , homeless teenager joins the family. Much of the family’s unique distress is due to its absent member. Sheng, the husband, the father, the beloved son, has been arrested and sent to a distant reeducation camp.
I liked all of these characters. They are very human in their strengths and weaknesses. Kai Ying has admirable sensitivity to her patients as she prepares her herbal remedies and Auntie Song’s optimism and strong survival instincts are inspiring. The book is somewhat slow and occasionally disjointed as the storytelling shifts from one person to another, but the overall picture of this family was very satisfying. They have nature’s resiliency and a sheer stubbornness to survive.
The Solitary House: A Novel
by Lynn Shepherd
Better still read the original (7/8/2012)
Charles Maddox is a uniquely gifted young man who is struggling to establish himself as a private detective in a Dickensian London. It is not a setting in an 1850’s London similar to one that Dickens created. It is the London setting that Dickens depicted in his great novel Bleak House. Charles Maddox has been contacted by the infamous Chancery lawyer, Mr. Tulkinghorn. Possessing a photographic memory and a strong sense of justice (much like Sherlock Holmes), Charles is dangerously entrapped in the Tulkinghorn’s evil intrigues.
In direct imitation of Bleak House the book is told through two voices. The story of Charles Maddox’s investigation is told in the voice of an omniscient narrator who occasionally injects an all-knowing and condescending 21st century commentary (reminiscent of Faber’s Crimson Petal and the White.) The second story line is told in first person diary entries by a character named Hester. Throughout both of these narratives it becomes apparent that the characters and events of the Dickens’ novel are proceeding simultaneously. In addition to Mr. Tulkinghorn’s role as Charles Maddox’s employer, other Bleak House characters make cameo appearances and occasionally play key roles. One final plot twist borrows characters and content from Wilke Collins’ Woman in White.
I am usually a fan of books, plays or movies which draw their inspiration from earlier works. I love to look at the intellectual process that transforms ideas into new images that can provide a different perspective. That is what I’d hoped to find in this novel. I can’t fault Ms Shepard’s knowledge of 19th century literature. As the omniscient narrator she makes sure the reader is aware of her research:
“It is as if a switch has been flicked – an analogy which is at least thirty years away, incidentally, though the snap of a magic lantern will do almost as well”
“(Charles)…….betakes himself to the nearest suitable establishment, a Victorian version of fast food known by the wonderfully descriptive name of a slap-bang – you slap down the money, and they bang down the food.”
I have to admit that the intertwining plot lines are very clever and excepting the 21st century side commentary, the atmosphere of the period is maintained. However, Ms Shepard claims that Solitary House is meant as homage to Dickens. I cannot help remembering how appalled Dickens was by unauthorized versions of his works and how hard he fought for copy rights. For me, Solitary House did not work as pastiche, or farce or as reinvention. It simply felt too much like plagiarism.
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