Be Mine

Be Mine by Richard Ford
6/13/23; 352 pages
HarperCollins
Frank Bascombe Novel #5

Be Mine by Richard Ford is a highly recommended literary novel and the fifth one featuring Frank Bascombe.

Frank, 74, is dealing with his own aging when he finds himself becoming the caretaker for his son Paul, 47, who has been diagnosed with ALS. They start their trip in freezing Rochester, Minnesota, where Paul is part of a study at the Mayo Clinic. The two decide to take a field trip for Valentines Day and travel in the winter through MN and SD to Rapid City to see Mount Rushmore. The two are both facing their own mortality while trying to create the happiness they can with what they have.

While the prose can soar and showcases the intelligence and insight that Ford is known for, this can also be a depressing novel. Certainly there are entertaining and funny parts, but the over all tone is melancholy. The narrative is told through Frank's point-of-view and he is a contemplative man, reflecting on his life, mortality, thoughts about happiness and the events transpiring around him. He remains a totally unique character in literature.

The Frank Bascombe novels are all centered around traveling during a holiday. For those who may want to read all of them The Sportswriter happens around Easter, Independence Day occurs around the 4th of July, The Lay of the Land is set during Thanksgiving, and Let Me Be Frank With You transpires during Christmas, and Be Mine takes place around Valentine’s Day.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley.

The Long Way Back

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart
6/13/23; 384 pages
Atria Books

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart is a very highly recommended domestic thriller with several surprising twists in the plot.

When her thirteen-year-old daughter Eva begs her for an Instagram page, Charlie, mother to Eva, agrees to open a shared one as mother and daughter. The page is titled The Sutton Girls and a photo Charlie takes of Eva goes viral and the two actually begin to become influencers. After a year, the name of the account is changed to Eva Explores. The two share photos and descriptions of places they traveled, camped, and explored in their vintage Airstream trailer. Charlie is always very careful to never photograph their full faces.

When Eva is ready for her senior year of high school, she asks if the two can settle down so she can attend high school. They temporarily settled in Minnesota on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Eva has a job and is sending off applications to colleges. Charlie is hoping for one more summer on the road, but Eva isn't interested. The two do take their boat out on the lake one day just before Eva's graduation. When Charlie falls asleep on the boat, Eva disappears and Charlie is the main suspect. But hold on because that is just the first act of this novel. Things are about to get much more complicated and twisty.

The well-written narrative is told through the point of view of Charlie, Eva, Instagram posts, and Eva's college application essays. The presentation of these various plot elements work very well. The novel is almost divided into several sections. They are all interconnected, but each new revelation will be totally unexpected and shocking as it is explored in the novel.

One important point that can be written about is the two largest fears that are tapped into: a child's disappearance and the risks inherent in social media. Both Charlie and Eva are characters you will care about and long the best for in the end. The writing is pitch-perfect as it reveals new information and twists in the plot. Readers will not be able to guess the direction the plot is going to take.

A note must be made about the quality of the writing. Baart does an exceptional job presenting the story in the most caring, suspenseful, and intricate way possible. The Long Way Back goes above and beyond many mother and daughter novels. This will be a perfect choice for book clubs as there is so much that could be discussed.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Edelweiss.

Girls and Their Monsters

Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America by Audrey Clare Farley
6/13/23; 304 pages
Grand Central Publishing

Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America by Audrey Clare Farley is a highly recommended account of the Morlok quadruplets.

The four girls were born in 1930 in Lansing, Michigan to parents Carl and Sadie Morlok. The girls, Edna, Helen, Sarah and Wilma, were portrayed as part of a perfect family and even performed dancing and singing on stage for awhile. Behind closed doors, however, the girls were subjected to a turbulent home life and frequently cruel treatment from abusive and controlling parents. Their public image remained untarnished as the family made sure it was always portrayed as spotless.

By 1954 all four women, now 24, were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Researchers at the newly formed National Institute of Mental Health wanted to study the genetics of the mental illness and once they learned about the Morlok quadruplets they immediately included them as part of their research. They were given the "Genain" surname pseudonym during research projects to protect their identities. Their research was not quite as straightforward as they hoped because it became clear that both genetic and environmental factors played a role in the mental health of the Morloks.

Farley expands the account by including mid-century cultural factors, the background and practices of the psychologists involved, the exploitation of children, and other historical factors of the times. The story of the Morloks is compelling and horrifying. The background and extraneous historical and cultural information is not as interesting and not all of it was applicable to their story. There were several passages late in the account that had no association with the Morloks or their experiences and were more opinions on current cultural topics. Some of the things Farley attempted to associate with the Morloks did not apply to their situation.

The historical account involving the Morloks and mid-century psychology is interesting, horrifying, and powerful. This is what makes Girls and Their Monsters worth reading and what calls forth the comparison to Hidden Valley Road. There is some extraneous information and opinions which occur late in the narrative which should have been edited out.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley.

Speak of the Devil

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding
6/13/23; 304 pages
St. Martin's

Speak of the Devil by Rose Wilding is a recommended murder mystery.

Seven dissimilar women gather together at midnight on New Year’s Eve, 1999. In the middle of the room sits a man's head, no body in sight. The head belongs to Jamie Spellman and each of the women in that room had a reason to kill him. He had alternately lied to, seduced, manipulated, threatened, and betrayed each of them. They all say they didn't do it, but someone did and they need to find out who it was.

Chapters cycle between the voices of each of the seven women, slowly revealing their secrets and creating an incriminating picture of Jamie. To be sure, there are a whole lot of points-of-view to negotiate before you learn to care about any of these people and differentiate between them. This was a struggle for me because I wasn't caring about them as quickly as I normally would.

Also, to be fair, the opening does grab your attention and makes you want to know more. The chapters are short and things move along quickly so individuals do end up sorting themselves out.

Basically, Speak of the Devil is a tale about various women who encountered a hideous man and the reasons each of them might want him to be gone. It is an entertaining novel and a good vacation read if you can sort out all the characters while reading. It will create a diversion during any flights, however, if you misplace it in the airport you won't care.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's via NetGalley.

The Island of Lost Girls

The Island of Lost Girls by Alex Marwood
6/13/23; 480 pages
HarperCollins

The Island of Lost Girls by Alex Marwood is a recommended novel that tackles current headlines involving wealthy, corrupt, evil individuals and lost innocence.

Set on the fictional Mediterranean island of La Kastellana the narrative follows two timelines set in 1985 and 2016. London-based multimillionaire Matthew Meade arrives in La Kastellana in 1985 with the new Duke and plans to develop the island into a destination for the rich and powerful. This is when twelve-year old Mercedes Delia meets thirteen-year-old Tatiana Meade. The Meades secure Mercedes as a companion for Tatiana, which is the beginning of a life of serving the Meades.

In 2016 Robin arrives on the island looking for her seventeen-year-old daughter Gemma who has been missing for over a year. She had clues that Gemma was heading to the island, but once Robin arrives there she realizes that finding people willing to help her is going to be hard on this island controlled by the wealthy. At the same time an undercover Europol investigation of human trafficking is secretly working with Mercedes to gather evidence about the disturbing activities on the island.

This is a slow-moving and slow-to-build suspense novel that requires time and attention to details in order for readers to become immersed in the plot. However, once you stick with the story about half way through the book you will know the dark hidden truth and exactly the direction the narrative is taking. The plot clearly took inspiration from news stories about the wealthy and powerful using their positions to do exactly what they please and the cost their nefarious desires extracts from others. The details are dark and gruesome.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via NetGalley.

She Started It

She Started It by Sian Gilbert
6/13/23; 352 pages
HarperCollins

She Started It by Sian Gilbert is a highly recommended debut revenge thriller.

Annabel, Esther, Tanya, and Chloe were best friends when they left secondary school ten years ago. Now all 28, Annabel is currently a housewife married to a wealthy man; Chloe is a social media influencer; Esther is in investment banking; and Tanya is an event planner. They were all surprised but couldn't say no to an invitation from another girl they knew way back when, Poppy Greer.

Poppy has shockingly invited them all to a hen party, a bachelorette party, on a luxurious private Bahamian island and is asking them to all be her bridesmaids. She has sent them first-class plane tickets to the all expenses paid luxury vacation. How could they possibly say no, even when they all know how horribly they treated Poppy years earlier.

Readers will know from the opening that everything is not going to go well. These are all shallow self-centered annoying characters and their first shocking surprise is that Poppy is no longer the insecure social misfit they teased and tormented years earlier. It is clear that this event is going to go awry in a big way. The narrative unfolds through alternating chapters through the point-of-view of different characters.

You do have to set disbelief aside right at the start. Even if they were feeling remorse for their earlier actions, why on earth would anyone go to any luxury resort with the tacit agreement that you are going to be a bridesmaid for someone who you bullied and abused? The whole set up for the plot is improbable and unbelievable. But once you accept the premise of the plot, it is addictively compelling, especially because any astute reader will know that things are going to go terribly wrong and secrets will be exposed.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins via Edelweiss.

Backstory

Backstory by William L. Myers, Jr.
6/7/23; 320 pages
Oceanview Publishing

Backstory by William L. Myers, Jr. is a recommended contemporary noir mystery.

Bob, Jackson Robert Hunter, had his head smashed against a brick wall by some unknown person and can't quite remember who he is. He's in a bar where people know him, so he knows his name is Bob. He gradually pieces together clues and memories. He lives in Kansas. His Wife, Helen has recently died by suicide. He can't remember what his job is or who his co-workers are. He does slowly recover memories of Helen and begins to believe that his wife was murdered. This memory and other clues eventually lead him to Philadelphia and his secret past.

This is a compelling narrative and readers will be sympathetic to Bob's search for answers. He is a complicated character with a complicated past. Readers will sympathize with Bob at the start of the novel, but Meyers will quickly show that he is a more perplexing and troublesome character than he appears to be at the start. The novel quickly turns from a noir to a thriller as Bob looks into his past to try and solve who killed Helen.

As a reviewer it was admittedly a struggle at times to read Backstory because it was slow paced at the beginning and the advanced reading copy was missing complete words and/or letters so I had to piece together clues from the text that was there to figure out what was what. This won't be in the final published edition, but it does inhibit an ease of reading comprehension for an advanced reviewer. The plot does pick up the pace and quickly becomes engrossing in the final chapters in the novel.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Oceanview Publishing via Edelweiss.