The Peach Keeper

Loved, loved, loved this book! The characters, the setting, the story are all wonderful, and it's got just enough mystical realism to make it interesting. But at bottom it's the story of relationships between people: Willa, Colin, Paxton, Sebastian, and Georgie and Agatha.

Allen is a beautiful writer, she writes some of the best scenic descriptions I've ever read. She also writes intriguing characters: these are not one-dimensional archetypes, these are real people with real failings and quirks and feelings. Perfect Paxton doesn't think she's perfect, and boring Willa has no idea of the inspiration she's given to others. That's what made this story so charming.

But I also enjoyed the small southern town feel, the stuff your grandma told you about ghosts, and the sense of a mystical land separate from the rest of the world. I keep coming back to this author again and again and am never disappointed.

The Peach Keeper: A Novel

The Search

Okay, let's see... I've said it before and I'll say it again: I like Nora Roberts, I really do, but I feel like she's gone Danielle Steele formulaic on me. I purposely waited a while to read another of her books, but it seems that not much has changed. Once again we've got a spunky-almost-beautiful heroine and a gorgeous-but-rough-around-the-edges hero reluctantly falling in love and facing a horrible situation together. The only thing that really sets this novel apart from Roberts' others is the dogs.

Fiona is a dog trainer and a search-and-rescue leader, and Simon has a new puppy named Jaws who needs a bit of training. Throw a serial killer and the wilderness of the Northwest into the mix and the only thing that makes this novel stand out is the dogs and dog training stuff. I admit that Fiona and Simon are likable characters, but all of Nora's lead characters are likable.

Having said all that, I did read the novel in about 3 days, and I did enjoy it, but it didn't challenge me. But I'm sure I'll still return to Nora in the future.

The Search

Island Beneath the Sea

This novel by Isabel Allende is quite different from most of her novels that I've read - there's really no mysticism to it - but it's really very good. It's the story of Zarite (called Tete), from her days as a young slave girl on Sainte-Domingue (now Haiti) to her emancipation and life as a free woman in New Orleans.

We follow Zarite's life from the age of about 11, a few years before the slave rebellions in the late 1700's, to about age 40 in New Orleans, several years prior to the civil war and abolition. She has a difficult life - she is a slave for most of it, after all, though luckily not in the cane fields - but she also makes some good friends along the way and finds love and a family.

I have to say I knew pretty much nothing about how Haiti came into being, and that was an interesting part of the book. Also interesting was the attitude of the New Orleans Creoles towards "Americans", and their distaste after the Louisiana Purchase of being forced to speak English. There was also a rigid caste system in both Sainte-Domingue and New Orleans among upper class whites, working class whites, and free people of varying amounts of color.

The best part of the novel for me, though, was the personal relationships between Tete and her friends and family, and the way she used what she learned, in combination with her spirituality, to overcome setbacks and create a good life for herself and her children.

Island Beneath The Sea: A Novel

The 19th Wife: A Novel

Really interesting (and slightly creepy) novel about the practice of polygamy in the Mormon church, the far-out sects that still practice polygamy, and the people who are caught up in it. This is a long book that jumps around a bit, but it's really worth the read.

There are basically two stories going on concurrently. One is the modern-day story of Jordan, ex-communicated by the "Firsts," a sect of Mormons who still practice polygamy, whose mother has been arrested for the murder of his father. Her name is BeckyLyn and she is, of course, the "19th wife".

But the other "19th wife" is Ann Eliza Young, an actual historical person, who was considered to be Brigham Young's 19th wife (yes, that Brigham Young), and who's apostasy from the church and following writings and lectures were considered to have helped end polygamy in the Mormon church. Ebershoff includes chapters from her "memoir" interspersed with Jordan trying to help his mom beat her murder rap.

I thought it was a really great story. Jordan is a really, really likeable character, who is trying to do something he feels is right despite having every reason to run as far from it as possible. And setting his story against a quasi-historical backdrop of the Mormon church points out how some people can pervert a set of religious beliefs for their own purposes.

The book has made me want to do a few things: check out the real story of Ann Eliza and Brigham Young, and see if the Firsts really exist. I also found out there is a Lifetime movie based on the novel, but I'm guessing they've taken all of the interesting stuff out and made it a love story, so I doubt I'll be watching it. But I definitely recommend the book!


The 19th Wife: A Novel

Bookends

This is a very enjoyable novel by Jane Green, about a group of friends in London who met their first year at university, and now at age 31 are dealing with all that adult life has to offer. The main character is Cath, a likeable, self-depracating, successful single who's really not interested in relationships. But when Cath and friend Lucy decide to open the bookstore/cafe that Cath has always dreamed of, life takes a turn.

This novel made me think of the cast of Friends, near the end of the show. Lucy is married to Josh and they have a kid, Cath is single but seems okay with that, and Si is always thinking the next man who comes a long is THE ONE. They've been friends forever, have a routine together, and share way too much information with each other. But they're all likeable enough.

This is not great literature, but it's a nice read - perfect beach or poolside read. The group does deal with some serious issues, and I liked the way Green handlded those. My only real complaint about the book is that Green used "and I" when she should have used "and me." A LOT. I wonder if it's a British thing?

Bookends: A Novel

Cutting for Stone

I have to admit that I resisted reading this novel, despite all the great things I heard about it. It got great press, it was on the best seller list, I had friends recommend it... but I thought it would be depressing. I figured it was just another Kite Runner or Slum Dog Millionaire, and I just wasn't in the mood. I am glad to say that I was wrong.

Verghese writes an epic novel, ranging from 1940's India and Africa to present day America. It's the story of Marion and Shiva Stone, identical twins born to Carmelite nun Sister Mary Joseph Praise (the best name for a nun EVER) at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa in 1954. Marion narrates the story of himself and his brother, their parents Hema and Ghosh, and their extended family and friends, as they grow up to be doctors. There are of course twists and turns and troubles along the way, that make for a real page-turning read.

Verghese is both a writer and an actual doctor, and he has a lot of medical detail in the novel. I thought at first that I'd skip over that, but it isn't overwhelming, and it really does serve to move the story forward. Verghese also has a way of bringing characters to life, so I felt I knew a lot about even some of the more minor characters, and I really felt that I knew Marion, Shiva, Hema, and Ghosh.

I'm really glad I read this novel, in fact it was hard to put down almost from the first page. I highly recommend it.

Cutting for Stone