Days of Awe by Lauren Fox
Knopf Doubleday: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 272 pages
ISBN-13: 9780307268129
http://laurenfoxwriter.com/
Days of Awe by Lauren Fox is a very highly recommended novel
about loss and change. What Lauren Fox presents us with is a year in a
woman's life; a year of loss when her world and family is changing
dramatically.
Isabel Applebaum Moore and
Josie Abrams met as teachers at Rhodes
Avenue Middle School and quickly became best friends. Izzy even
introduced Josie to her childhood friend, Mark, and he and Josie
married. But now Josie has died in a car crash, leaving a hole in Izzy's
life. She is understandably full of grief, but on top of this, her
world begins falling apart. Izzy's marriage to Chris becomes full of
stress and Chris moves out, into his own apartment. Their 11 year old
daughter Hannah, who is also mourning Josie, must now deal with her
parent's separation. Added to this is the fact that Izzy's mother who
lives nearby, has had a stroke and Izzy can see that she is aging.
Izzy's overwhelming sadness as she grieves the loss of her friend is
understandable, but soon it becomes clear that she is grieving for much
more than this one unexpected death and her changing family. She is
grieving for the past that her mother, a Holocaust survivor, never talks
about except in hints. She is grieving for the lost children of all the
miscarriages she has had. She is angry at Mark for seemingly moving on
way-too-quickly to a new relationship with a woman who is the antithesis
of Josie. She is struggling with her previously adoring daughter
suddenly turning into a teen with an attitude and insomnia.
Izzy has been a dutiful daughter, wife, mother, and best friend. These
relationships have defined who she is for years. Now Izzy must come to
terms with who she really is, as well as some secrets about Josie that
she been unable to face.
In Izzy, Fox has created an amazing finely layered character. She can be
darkly funny, acerbic, and quick witted. She feels things deeply,
passionately, but not always openly. When she does comment, she has a
unique voice and an individual perspective on everything. Her struggles
are universal. Her relationships are all in transition. She is seeking
atonement, undertaking an introspective look at her life during this
year. (The title is a nod to the Jewish Days of Awe.) I totally
understood much of what she was experiencing and the depth of emotion
that Fox manages to convey is very true to life.
The writing in Days of Awe is exquisite, literary, and it
perfectly depicts an incredible character whose whole life is in
transition. This book had me staying up way too late to finish it, the
sign of a compelling story combined with great writing. I had one
quibble with it: the ending was way too pat for the rest of the book.
Many people liked it though, so this feeling is personal - and based on
personal experience. I won't say more, but it did knock it down a star
for me, until I decided I liked everything else about Days of Awe way too much to go that low.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of Knopf Doubleday for review
purposes.
Woman with a Secret by Sophie Hannah
HarperCollins: 8/4/15
hardcover, 384 pages
ISBN-13: 9780062388261
Woman with a Secret by Sophie Hannah is a highly recommended
police procedural.
In this latest case featuring British police officers DC Simon
Waterhouse and his wife, DS Charlie Zailer, there has been a murder
of a well-known columnist on Elmhirst Road in Spilling. Damon Blundy
may have been well known, but he was also controversial and
combative. He was killed in a way that seemed to be sending a
symbolic message, but what could the message mean? And then there
are the actual words painted on the wall saying, "He is no less
dead." The list of enemies should be extensive, but the
investigation takes notice of one car, being driven by Nicki
Clements, a woman in her early forties who makes a U-turn to avoid
where the police are stopping every car up ahead.
Nicki, who is trying to run an errand to her children's school, sees
a cop she wants to avoid seeing again at all costs. The big question
is why? What secret is Nicki trying to hide? Because Nicki's erratic
behavior is captured on CCTV she is called in for questioning.
Clearly, when Nicki is answering questions, she is also trying to
cover up something. She has a secret, but does it have anything to
do with Blundy's murder?
As part of Nicki's secrets and lies are clear to the reader, the
question is how or if they are related to the case. We do know Nicki
has been going online and is conducting an affair, at this point
just through email, with "Gavin" after previously having another
affair with someone she met online.
Parts of this story are told through Nicki, her email correspondence
with Gavin, the police investigation, and Blundy's columns. It opens
with a personal ad placed on a dating site that invites speculation,
but is also deceptive. And that deception, the lies and secrets, are
what makes up a great deal of this novel and keeps you guessing what
is real and what isn't.
Hannah does an excellent job capturing the present world where we
are all online, social media abounds, CCTV surveillance is common,
and there are plenty of columnists that revel in being nasty and/or
combative as they name names and throw accusations. It seems that
everyone is striving to be more connected. She does an excellent job
depicting this world where we are either trying to stand out more
and set ourselves apart from the pack or we are conducting a secret
life online.
The real treat to this well written novel is Simon and Charlie.
Their complex relationship, interaction, and thought processes as
they work together are what kept me reading.
Nicki is an unreliable narrator as well as an unlikeable character.
In fact there are many unlikeable characters in this novel. So many
nasty people, with the exception of Simon and Charlie, could leave
you with no one to cheer for or at least hope it works out for them.
On the up side, though, it also provides plenty of suspects and
clues to follow in order to figure out who done it and why.
Disclosure: I received an advanced
reading copy of this book from the publisher and TLC for review
purposes.
TLC TOUR SCHEDULE
The Casualties by Nick Holdstock
Thomas Dunne: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 288 pages
ISBN13: 9781250059512
nickholdstock.com/
The Casualties by Nick Holdstock is a unique, very highly recommended novel about change.
A major disaster is heading toward the Comely Bank neighborhood of
Edinburgh, Scotland. It is referenced obliquely, as if it is common
knowledge, because our narrator in The Casualties is telling us
about the disaster from the vantage point of sixty years in the future.
What he wants to talk about are some of the inhabitants of the
neighborhood and tells us their stories. He is looking back and talking
about the past, in 2016 and 2017, right before the apocalypse happens
and everything changes.
The narrator tells us right away that Samuel Clark, who lives in Comely
Bank and runs a charity used book store, is a murderer. Sam likes to
collect bits of lives that have been left in the books donated to his
shop, things like old letters, photos, airline ticket stubs. He also
likes to hear the stories of the people around him. Holdstock introduces
us, through Sam, to the denizens Sam is curious about, and those who
are obsessed with him. The exceptional people we meet are: Alasdair, the
might-be-crazy man who lives under the bridge; Caitlyn, who works in
the charity clothes shop next to the bookstore and has a face that
develops cracks; Mr. Asham runs a store and longs to belong to the
community; Mrs. Maclean taught for over forth years and longs to die;
Rita and Sean are two drunks who always hang out together at the park;
Toby is an extremely obese young man who craves food constantly so he
must be supervised all the time; Sinead is a nymphomaniac who watches
Toby but longs for Sam; Trudy is a Filipino prostitute.
It is a narrative with finely drawn characters that are well developed, remarkable, and interesting.
Holdstock presents his story from a unique viewpoint, which sets this
pre-apocalypse story apart in a category all on its own. Even while
introducing us to these characters and leading us up to the murder Sam
is supposed to commit, Holdstock also drops small, vague references to
the disaster that will be happening, a disaster that makes all the drama
he is telling us about seem inconsequential. But that is the beauty of
this novel. The narrator has a point of view from far in the future, a
time years after the impending disaster and all the subsequent societal
developments about which he hints. He's talking about the past many
years ago. The happenings in the Edinburgh neighborhood are trivial in
comparison to the bigger picture. We really don't know what the disaster
is until we are far along in the story and even then he does not talk
about that. He talks about this neighborhood just before the disaster.
And this choice is brilliant.
Holdstock creates a tension right away because we know something much
bigger is coming but his narrator chooses to focus in on Sam and this
odd, damaged group of people in this particular little neighborhood. He
wants to tell us a story. It is akin to hearing about now what people
were doing before boarding the Titanic, or just before the San Francisco
earthquake of 1906, or the devastating Tsunami of 2004. A disaster much
bigger than any little drama is coming, but the narrator needs to tell
us this story, the story about what was happening just before the
disaster to these people.
The ending might not suit everyone, but I could appreciate it in the context of the whole novel. This one was a nice surprise.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of Thomas Dunne for review
purposes.
Man-Eater by Harold Schechter
Little A: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 374 pages
ISBN-13: 9781503944213
haroldschechter.com/
Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal by
Harold Schechter is a highly recommended nonfiction narrative about
Alfred (Alferd) G. Packer, a prospector who was accused of cannibalism.
Six miners went into the mountains
to hunt for precious gold;
It was the middle of the winter,
the weather was dreadful cold.
Six miners went into the mountains,
they had nor food nor shack—
Six miners went into the mountains,
But only one came back.
"The Lost Miners"(or the Ballad of Alferd Packer; nineteenth century)
In 1873 Packer and a group of five other men set off through the high
mountains of Colorado to seek their fortune in gold or silver. It was
winter, a brutal time to be traveling through the mountains, and the men
were lost and starving. Packer was the only man to make it out alive.
Though he changed his story several times, it was widely believed that
he killed the others and ate them in order to survive. Packer claimed,
at one point, that the men were killed by another member of the group,
Shannon Wilson Bell, who Packer in turned shot before Bell killed him.
Then he did eat the flesh of his deceased companions to ward off
starvation. It was also believed that he may have killed the other men
to rob them; he did admittedly take money from the dead men.
Schechter covers Packer's two trials, along with a plethora of
historical information to place the legendary crime story in context. He
includes Polly Pry's efforts on Packer's behalf, and the cultural
impact of Packer's story. For example, a cafeteria at the University of
Colorado Boulder is named after Packer, several films and a musical
based on the story have been made, and songs have been written about it.
Schechter also discusses James Starr's efforts in to use modern
forensic science techniques to resolve the questions surrounding
Packer's case.
This is one of those books that is simply interesting to read. If you
enjoy nonfiction about the late 1800s, prospectors, cases of cannibalism
in US history, and sensational historical figures, this may be a good
choice for you. Written in 50 short, well organized chapters, the book
includes chapter notes and a bibliography.
(The
spelling of the name Alfred as “Alferd” is because Packer didn’t know how to
spell his name when younger and used the alternate misspelling.)
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of Little A for review
purposes.
We Believe the Children by Richard Beck
PublicAffairs: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 352 pages
ISBN-13: 9781610392877
We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s by
Richard Beck is a highly recommended examination of the panic over
alleged horrific abuse by day care workers in the 1980's. Beck is
primarily focusing on the history of the allegations, why it may
have happened, and several other topics related to the discussion
rather than
presenting new information about this time in history. I vividly
recall all the outrage and panic coverage over these cases in the
1980s when the McMartin Preschool became a whispered household word
and accusations of satanic ritual abuse was seemingly everywhere.
"[I]n California, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Massachusetts,
Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio, and elsewhere, day care workers
were arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of committing horrible
sexual crimes against the children they cared for. These crimes,
social workers and prosecutors said, had gone undetected for years,
and they consisted of a brutality and sadism that defied all
imagining. The dangers of babysitting services and day care centers
became a national news media fixation. Of the many hundreds of
people who were investigated in connection with day care and ritual
abuse cases around the country, some 190 were formally charged with
crimes, leading to more than 80 convictions."
I also recall some of the more sensational and less than stellar
media coverage
surrounding the outbreak (Geraldo Rivera) as well as coverage on
20/20 and 60 minutes. For all the accusations, outrage, and charges,
though, no evidence was found for many of the claims. The McMartin
case, one of the longest and most expensive trials in history, resulted
in no convictions.
Beck, an editor at n+1, a New York-based literary magazine,
examines how social workers, therapists and police officers helped
induce children to tell elaborate stories about abuse that never took
place. The methods used by these professionals and investigators
encouraged children to lie and tell those investigating what they wanted
to hear. The whole atmosphere at the time was akin to a witch hunt, and
Beck does make the comparison to the Salem Witch trials, with the
difference being the accused witches were later given an apology.
There is a lot of extraneous information included in this presentation
of the facts, including multiple personality disorder and recovered
memory therapy along with anti-pornography efforts and Christian
concerns about the family. Some of this extra information, while
interesting, could have been reduced or eliminated. Becks ultimate
theory as to why he thinks the societal hysteria took place is
interesting, although I'm not sure I totally agree with his conclusions.
This is well written and well researched look at the fear that created a
cultural disaster. Beck includes plenty of documentation to support the
research in his presentation. My advanced reading copy included the
footnotes and the final book will have an index.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of PublicAffairs for review
purposes.
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Simon & Schuster: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 384 pages
ISBN-13: 9781451693591
The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman is a highly recommended novel of historical fiction about the mother of painter Camille
Pissarro.
Rachel Manzana Pomié grew up on the tropical island of St.
Thomas in the early 1800s. Her father is a merchant on the island and
her family was part of the Jewish community who settled there for
religious freedom under the protection of Denmark. Her family brought an
apple tree with them to the tropics because it is the basis for their
name, but, although the apple tree lived, it never flourished. The
family also survived, but did not flourish on the island. While her
father taught her to read and doted on her, her mother is harsh and does
not want a daughter. Her mother favors a nephew she adopted as a baby.
Rachel knows her mother's harsh tongue and manner, but she is decidedly
an unconventional girl who just happened to live in a time not well
suited for her strength of character, societal rule breaking, and love
of reading. The family maid is a source of great comfort and support and
her daughter, Jestine, is Rachel's life-long friend. Rachel longs to go
to Paris, but the nephew is sent instead. Rachel is then married off to
Isaac Petit, a widower over twice her age, to save the family business
from financial ruin. Isaac has three children and Rachel quickly adds 3
more children to the family.
When Isaac suddenly dies, as a woman Rachel is left with nothing. Her
husband inherited her father's business interests and now his nephew
will inherit it all. Rachel is 29, caring for 6 children and about to
give birth to a seventh. When the nephew, Frédérick, who is 22, arrives,
it begins a love affair of the heart and a marriage that breaks Jewish
laws and causes them to be outcasts in society. From their marriage Jacobo Camille Pissarro is born.
Hoffman's expressive writing style, rich in descriptions, folklore, and
historical fact, is well suited for this novel. She manages to capture
life on St. Thomas in the 1800's and brings Rachel to life, showing her
formative years, island superstitions, struggles, and determination.
There is some magic realism thrown into the story. While closely
following the historical facts, Hoffman embellished and added some
characters for depth.
The Marriage of Opposites will appeal to those who enjoy historical fiction - especially historical fiction that is well well-written, carefully researched, closely follows historical facts, and realistically and accurately portrays the historical time, place, and setting. While it does move a tad bit slow at times, The Marriage of Opposites brings a small part of history to life.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of Simon & Schuster for review
purposes.
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon
Knopf Doubleday: 8/4/15
eBook review copy, 336 pages
ISBN-13: 9780385538510
http://jennifer-mcmahon.com/
The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon is a very highly
recommended novel that combines suspense and fantasy as it explores the
bonds between sisters and the downfall of keeping secrets. McMahon is
swiftly becoming one of my go-to authors for the combination of
consistently great writing with a compelling narrative. She delivers on
both counts here.
The Night Sister opens with a horrific murder. It appears the
Amy Slater has killed her family and then herself at her home. They were
living in her family's house by the dilapidated buildings of what was
once her family's business, the Tower Motel, in the sleepy town of
London, Vermont. The only survivor is her daughter Lou, who was found
hiding out on the roof of the house.
Margot calls her older sister Piper to tell her of the tragic news
and Piper flies back to Vermont to be with her sister. A photo was found
with a cryptic note on it referring to the 29th room. The only problem
is that the Tower Motel only had 28 rooms. But Piper and Margot were
childhood friends of Amy and the three played together until they had a
falling out in the summer of 1989. They know a secret they aren't
sharing. Jason, who is currently on the police force in London and
married to Margot, knew all three girls at that time. He knows they are
hiding something, but he has secrets of his own.
The story is presented in three time periods, which are clearly
indicated: 2013, 1955 or 1961, and 1989. The chapters are narrated
through the voice of several different characters: Amy at the very
beginning, then the story unfolds through Jason and Piper in 1989 and
2013, and Rose (Amy's mother) in the early years. Interspersed in the
early years are letters Silvie, Rose's older sister, has written to
Alfred Hitchcock.
While you know that the three girls discovered a terrible secret that
ruined their friendship in the summer of 1989, you don't find out what
the secret is until the end. McMahon grabs your attention at the
beginning with the murders, and then settles in to tell her story,
slowly revealing clues that aren't fully explained until the end. (Fans
of Hitchcock movies may be able to spot several tie-ins to his films.) The Night Sister is a good, creepy book that held my attention from beginning to end.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy
of Knopf Doubleday for review
purposes.
