Story of an abandoned child that grew into a self-sufficient marsh girl/woman. Murder mystery - beautiful descriptions of the marsh.

Set at the time of WWI in Britain with a nursing sister as a hero, this is a fast pace, page turner murder mystery written in the "Agatha Christie" style where everyone has a motive for murder and the end is unexpected. It is well written and entertaining.

The book is an account of 48 hours from the time the protagonist, a spy from North Korea who has lived in South Korea for the past 20 years, gets a message recalling him to the North.
It provides an interesting view into the life and culture of both North and South Korea which are playing in a complex and deadly spy game.
The book is written in very choppy, simple sentences and reads almost like a play script. The characters are very shallow and very lonely - no true bonds between people, not even close family members. They survive - performing every day chores, working and having sex, but each one is alone. For a westerner, the names seem too similar and characters get confused easily. Overall, the topic is of interest but the book itself is mediocre.

A novel that is a fast read; a page turner. The story is a mix of reality and fantasy with a bit of the history of Salem, MA in the background. The main character, Zee, uncovers secrets and works through dark events in her past to finds her way through life.
The book gets a bit too much into psychotherapy and mental illness issues, which may not be for everyone's taste.

This book is special. It is showing a world that many are not familiar with, a first hand account of what it is really like to live and grow as "white trash". One of the things that emerge is that there is no black and white - as the mother says, no one is completely evil and that much of what happens is one's own decision and will.
The parents, who are horrible most of the time, have some qualities that are admirable. The star giving story, when the father sits down with each child and lets them chose their own star- is parenting at its best. The scene of everyone reading together with the dictionary in the middle, is a great family moment. And it is clear, that even after all the horribly, irresponsible, selfish things that the parents do, the kids still love them.
The truth is that the kids took care of each other, and the one child that fell through the cracks is Maureen, the one that lived out of the house, in friends houses, probably in better environment but without the family support.
It made me think about poverty and types of poverty, and what society can or cannot do. I would highly recommend it to young people/teenagers. I think it brings home the notion of adventure/responsibility and outcome.