I just loved this first novel by Michael Callahan, set in the famous Barbizon Hotel for Women in NYC in the 1950's. Callahan has really captured a moment in time, and tells an entertaining story about three very different women along the way.
Beautiful Smith College undergrad Laura has come to NYC to do a summer internship with Mademoiselle. When she arrives at the Barbizon she is assigned a room with Dolly, a sunny working-class girl attending secretarial school. Soon they meet Vivian, a gorgeous Brit who loves to break the rules. The three become fast friends, and help each other through the trials of being young women in a city and a society where the rules for proper behavior are being rewritten everyday.
Callahan has a great ear for dialog and seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from Hepburn/Tracy comedies. The characters are smart, literate, and endearing. This is a wonderful and quick read.
Searching for Grace Kelly
Monday, July 6, 2015
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Dark Places
I could not put this book down! This is another thriller from Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, and it does not disappoint. It's the story of Libby Day, who survived the massacre of her mother and two older sisters in 1985 in Kinnakee, Kansas, and whose testimony sent her older brother Ben to prison for life as the sole murderer.
It's now 2009 and Libby has lived her life avoiding the "dark places" of that horrible night, existing on charity and the meager revenue of a poorly-received book. But now Libby needs money, so she reluctantly accepts an appearance request from a local "Kill Club," a group that investigates old murders, and who thinks Ben is innocent. Pretty soon Libby is doubting everything she has grown up believing.
Told in turns from present-day Libby's perspective, and from the perspective of Ben and their mother, Patty, on that horrible day in January 1985, we see that not all truths are totally true, and that we believe things are a certain way because we want to believe they're that way. Like in Gone Girl, Flynn plays with our notions of reliable characters and who the reader is supposed to believe, and also with how things look isn't how things actually are.
The movie comes out in August.... with Charlize Theron as grown-up Libby. I'm looking forward to it.
Dark Places
It's now 2009 and Libby has lived her life avoiding the "dark places" of that horrible night, existing on charity and the meager revenue of a poorly-received book. But now Libby needs money, so she reluctantly accepts an appearance request from a local "Kill Club," a group that investigates old murders, and who thinks Ben is innocent. Pretty soon Libby is doubting everything she has grown up believing.
Told in turns from present-day Libby's perspective, and from the perspective of Ben and their mother, Patty, on that horrible day in January 1985, we see that not all truths are totally true, and that we believe things are a certain way because we want to believe they're that way. Like in Gone Girl, Flynn plays with our notions of reliable characters and who the reader is supposed to believe, and also with how things look isn't how things actually are.
The movie comes out in August.... with Charlize Theron as grown-up Libby. I'm looking forward to it.
Dark Places
Monday, June 22, 2015
The Siege Winter
I was very sad to learn when I picked up this book at the library that one of the authors, Ariana Franklin, is dead. I thoroughly enjoyed her Mistress of the Art of Death series, and will be sorry not to be able to read more of them. But her daughter Samantha Norman finishes this novel of 12th century England that Ariana began, and between the two of them they wrote one heck of a novel.
Told by an Abbot on his deathbed at the end of the 12th century, this is the tale of the civil war in the 1140s between King Stephen and the Empress Mathilda, rivals for the throne. But more importantly it's the story of two very strong females: Emma, the 11-year-old girl who in order to save her family, sacrifices herself to an evil monk and his band of mercenaries; and Maud, the 15-year-old chatelaine of an important castle that both Stephen and Mathilda would lay claim to.
Maud and Emma (now called Penda) eventually come to be together, but not before Penda has taken up with the honorable mercenary Gwil, who teaches her to use a bow with deadly precision, and not before Maud has found herself married to the nasty Sir John, who holds her castle for King Stephen. Then something happens to Sir John, and Empress Mathilda comes along, and well, that's where the siege in the title comes into play.
This is a wonderful historical novel, and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.
The Siege Winter
Told by an Abbot on his deathbed at the end of the 12th century, this is the tale of the civil war in the 1140s between King Stephen and the Empress Mathilda, rivals for the throne. But more importantly it's the story of two very strong females: Emma, the 11-year-old girl who in order to save her family, sacrifices herself to an evil monk and his band of mercenaries; and Maud, the 15-year-old chatelaine of an important castle that both Stephen and Mathilda would lay claim to.
Maud and Emma (now called Penda) eventually come to be together, but not before Penda has taken up with the honorable mercenary Gwil, who teaches her to use a bow with deadly precision, and not before Maud has found herself married to the nasty Sir John, who holds her castle for King Stephen. Then something happens to Sir John, and Empress Mathilda comes along, and well, that's where the siege in the title comes into play.
This is a wonderful historical novel, and I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.
The Siege Winter
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Lord John and the Private Matter
If you are an Outlander fan, then you will probably like this novel. Lord John is Lord John Grey of the Outlander series, and this novel started as a short story but apparently developed into a normal-sized novel of fewer than 400 pages (those of you who read Diana Gabaldon know that for her, that IS a short story).
The action of this story takes place during the time after Culloden, after Claire has gone back to the present-day. Jamie Fraser is only mentioned in Lord John's mind, he is not a part of the story. This story is really a mystery, one that Lord John must solve. When he learns something troubling about the gentleman who is engaged to his cousin, he sets out to figure out how to broach the subject with said gentleman, but along the way gets involved with investigating the death of a member of his military unit. When the clues seem to point to the death being murder - and being somehow connected to the gentleman engaged to his cousin - Lord John finds himself running all over the seedy underside of London society.
This was a very enjoyable novel, and I'm not usually a big fan of murder mysteries. But Lord John is a very engaging character, and I enjoy Gabaldon's style of writing. I highly recommend it even to non-Outlander fans.
Lord John and the Private Matter
The action of this story takes place during the time after Culloden, after Claire has gone back to the present-day. Jamie Fraser is only mentioned in Lord John's mind, he is not a part of the story. This story is really a mystery, one that Lord John must solve. When he learns something troubling about the gentleman who is engaged to his cousin, he sets out to figure out how to broach the subject with said gentleman, but along the way gets involved with investigating the death of a member of his military unit. When the clues seem to point to the death being murder - and being somehow connected to the gentleman engaged to his cousin - Lord John finds himself running all over the seedy underside of London society.
This was a very enjoyable novel, and I'm not usually a big fan of murder mysteries. But Lord John is a very engaging character, and I enjoy Gabaldon's style of writing. I highly recommend it even to non-Outlander fans.
Lord John and the Private Matter
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
The American Heiress
I really, really enjoyed this book! Daisy Goodwin has created an intriguing story around a very interesting group of characters in a beautifully written novel. If you're a Downton Abbey fan, this book is a must read.
Cora Cash (how great a name is that?) is a late-19th-century American heiress - very beautiful and very nouveau riche - whose mother has decided that only an English noblemen is worthy of her daughter's hand in marriage. When Cora manages to snare a desirable but impoverished Duke, in a (seemingly) love match no less, it's the coup of the year. But then Cora discovers that English society is not as upright and honorable as it appears to be, and that her husband's affections may lie elsewhere.
Okay, so the story sounds a little Jane Austen-y, and little Bronte-esque, but that's what makes it so appealing. Goodwin has managed to bring a modern sensibility to an old world style. And she tells the story from an upstairs/downstairs perspective, where we see that sometimes the servants are snobbier than their employers, and sometimes a lady's maid is a better person than a peer. There's also the juxtaposition of American forthrightness - openness, eye contact, handshakes - with British subterfuge.
This is just a delicious story, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The American Heiress
Cora Cash (how great a name is that?) is a late-19th-century American heiress - very beautiful and very nouveau riche - whose mother has decided that only an English noblemen is worthy of her daughter's hand in marriage. When Cora manages to snare a desirable but impoverished Duke, in a (seemingly) love match no less, it's the coup of the year. But then Cora discovers that English society is not as upright and honorable as it appears to be, and that her husband's affections may lie elsewhere.
Okay, so the story sounds a little Jane Austen-y, and little Bronte-esque, but that's what makes it so appealing. Goodwin has managed to bring a modern sensibility to an old world style. And she tells the story from an upstairs/downstairs perspective, where we see that sometimes the servants are snobbier than their employers, and sometimes a lady's maid is a better person than a peer. There's also the juxtaposition of American forthrightness - openness, eye contact, handshakes - with British subterfuge.
This is just a delicious story, and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
The American Heiress
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay
This is an intriguing novel. Nina is forty-something-year-old woman who has spent most of her life in a love triangle with two brothers, Paolo and Luca. She actually married Luca, but now they've separated and she's come to this tiny Greek island where they honeymooned, trying to find herself again. Following a serious accident, she is befriended by the handsome and attentive island doctor, and they share their life stories.
Despite the action of the accident, this is very much a novel of the mind. We see Nina, through the process of sharing her life story with Dr. Christos, learning that how she thinks things were, and how things actually were, are two entirely different things. Through the process of her body recuperating, Nina realizes what actually was wrong in her marriage, and comes to understand the forces that impacted her relationships with both Paolo and Luca.
This is a really beautifully written novel, and I was drawn into the story almost immediately. I highly recommend it.
The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay
Despite the action of the accident, this is very much a novel of the mind. We see Nina, through the process of sharing her life story with Dr. Christos, learning that how she thinks things were, and how things actually were, are two entirely different things. Through the process of her body recuperating, Nina realizes what actually was wrong in her marriage, and comes to understand the forces that impacted her relationships with both Paolo and Luca.
This is a really beautifully written novel, and I was drawn into the story almost immediately. I highly recommend it.
The Enlightenment of Nina Findlay
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
All the Light We Cannot See
This is the most amazing novel I've read in some time. Anthony Doerr has managed to create a story and characters that take you through the emotional spectrum, from heartache to hope, from outrage to joy, and everything in between. I couldn't put it down, and when I finished it I felt spent.
Okay, I know that sounds over the top, but you have to believe me.
This is the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl living in Paris, and Werner, a brilliant German orphan living in a mining town, growing up just before and during WWII. The novel is told in a sort of chronological order, switching from Marie's story to Werner's, and sometimes going forward or backward in time as necessary. Marie's life goes from Paris to the coastal town of Saint-Malo, while Werner's goes from the Children's Home to an elite military prep school to the German army. But the reader always senses the connection between these two bright, sensitive, and endearing characters, and they do eventually come together.
Doerr uses characterization and beautiful prose to show us the dark side of war, and the bright side of humanity. He shows how there are good people who do bad things, and situations that make heroes of the unlikeliest among us. It's an amazing book, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
All the Light We Cannot See
Okay, I know that sounds over the top, but you have to believe me.
This is the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl living in Paris, and Werner, a brilliant German orphan living in a mining town, growing up just before and during WWII. The novel is told in a sort of chronological order, switching from Marie's story to Werner's, and sometimes going forward or backward in time as necessary. Marie's life goes from Paris to the coastal town of Saint-Malo, while Werner's goes from the Children's Home to an elite military prep school to the German army. But the reader always senses the connection between these two bright, sensitive, and endearing characters, and they do eventually come together.
Doerr uses characterization and beautiful prose to show us the dark side of war, and the bright side of humanity. He shows how there are good people who do bad things, and situations that make heroes of the unlikeliest among us. It's an amazing book, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
All the Light We Cannot See
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