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Reviews by Barbara G. (Lisle, IL)

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The Gypsy Moth Summer
by Julia Fierro

A Summer to Remember (5/2/2017)

Unlike the monarch butterflies facing extinction in Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior, the fate of the butterflies' cousins in Julie Fierro's The Gypsy Moth Summer are in the midst of a pro-creative orgy that engulfs New England's Avalon Island and its residents. In their own biological echo the teenagers of the island, more or less ignored by their parents, are caught in their own frenzy exploring their sexuality, attempting to find the love they don't receive at home. The story's backdrop pits the island's main employer, war plane manufacturer Grudder, against the sharp divide between the well-paid, well-educated and white management and the lower-paid ethnic factory workers. What happens at the end of the summer to the main characters the reader will grow to care for, will seem logical and surprising at the same time.

Edgar and Lucy
by Victor Lodato

The Meaning of Family (11/30/2016)

Love, family and how that family has treated its members lies at the heart of Lodato's Edgar and Lucy. Edgar's mother, Lucy, is very young, and suffers a broken leg trying to rescue her also young husband, Frankie, when he commits suicide by plunging his car into a river. Lucy's father, a drunk, has never treated Lucy or her mother with respect. Frankie's mother, Florence, practically raises Edgar, since his father is dead and Lucy must work. Edgar is kidnapped at age seven by a man overwhelmed by guilt over his accidental shooting of his own eleven or twelve-year-old son ten years earlier. Even the female detective assigned to Edgar's case has her own problems in that she can't have her own children and for far too long believes Edgar has simply run away. Though all the characters are flawed (usually by events in their past) , we are shown that for the most part they have good hearts and good intentions, and the story in which Lodato brings them to us will stay with you long after you've finished the book.

The Secret Ingredient of Wishes
by Susan Bishop Crispell

Be Careful What You Wish For (7/12/2016)

What would you do if you discover you can make wishes come true by wishing your annoying little brother would get lost and suddenly it's as if he never existed?
Even your parents don't remember him and ship you off to a psychiatric hospital when you continue to insist he did? This is the dilemma Rachel finds herself in as she grows up and tries to learn to control her gift.

When she inadvertently causes a pony with an ice cream cone on its head to appear in response to the daughter of her best friend's birthday wish for a unicorn, she resolves to leave town until she can gain some control and maybe find her brother. When she runs out of gas because she's so distracted by this latest event, she finds herself in Nowhere, North Carolina where she's taken in by Catch, a woman who bakes individuals' secrets into a panoply of pies.

Eventually Rachel gets a handle on her power, finds love with the local builder/handyman, and finds her brother, but then must make the difficult choice of whether or not to tell him who she really is.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel
by Bryn Greenwood

What Is Love? (5/8/2016)

The characters and this well-written and haunting story will stay with you long after you reach the final paragraph. At the beginning, you may not want to continue reading because the situations are so off-putting. Wavy, the focal character, is nearly mute, speaking monosyllabically, so traumatized by her bi-polar, self-centered and indifferent mother and her physically abusive meth-dealing father with his own harem. The only bright point in her life is Kellen, a giant, tattooed motorcycle mechanic twelve years her senior from his own alcoholic, abusive family. Seeing how she's treated, he steps in to buy her clothes and shoes, pay her school fees and makes sure she gets there, and becomes her friend. There are definite questions of whether their relationship is pedophilia, but the reader will have to decide what constitutes love after getting to know them and the situations in which they find themselves.

The Dark Lady's Mask
by Mary Sharratt

Masks for Everyone (2/29/2016)

The Dark Lady's Mask presents a feminist answer to the ongoing question of who really wrote Shakespeare's plays. No one in this novel acts exactly as they are presumed or claim to be. Aemilia Bassano, a gifted free-spirited English woman who dreams of becoming a poet, discovers her father, despite his Italian surname, is actually Jewish. Aemilia herself often dresses and acts as a young man. Aristocrats take common women as their lovers and treat them as aristocrats. Those thought dead are revealed to be alive. Men marry their wives for their wealth, not for love. And in this novel Will Shakespeare, an impoverished poet, is not above rejecting Aemilia, his lover, wife and mother of one of his children, recasting their collaborative comedies as solely his own tragedies, thereby raising his own status and wealth. There are twists and turns galore in this tale written in its own poetic language to bring the times, places and people to life, making a plausible argument for yet another possible author of Shakespeare's works.

What Lies Between Us
by Nayomi Munaweera

What Happens to the Young Can Have Lasting Effects (11/16/2015)

At times beautifully lyrical and horrifying, this tale told in the first-person ponders the far-reaching effects of an unspeakable transgression against a very young Sri Lankan girl. Added to this early trauma and the unpredictability and often coldness of her mother, it is easy to understand her post-traumatic stress growing stronger as she grows older, trying to live her life despite what has happened. She has a brief respite when she falls in love with an artist who truly loves her and they have a beautiful little girl. The traumatic event returns to haunt her when her mother tells her what really happened all those years ago and something inside her snaps.
The climactic event may come as a surprise, or not. The reader may want to go back and re-read the early chapters to look for clues. Yet in the end the reader can only be convinced of the great harm that can be done when the innocent are manipulated by those they trust. This book will stay with you for a long time.

Every Anxious Wave
by Mo Daviau

Time Travel witha Punk Twist (11/16/2015)

Time travel through a personal wormhole in Karl’s closet sets the action in this quirky sort of punk rock novel. Karl’s friend Wayne devises a computer program that allows them to choose the year and place to which they travel, which is, by agreement, only past great rock and roll band performances. But when Karl accidentally send Wayne to 980 Manhattan instead of 1980, Karl must find someone who can help him retrieve his friend. Lena, an astrophysicist grad student from Northwestern answers his ad. She, too, is a punk aficionado, and Karl falls in love with her. They attempt to retrieve Wayne, only to learn he doesn’t want to come back, having fallen in love with the simplicity of the Indian life when he’s at. There are some complications with the time travel that cause Karl to erase Lena’s half-sister, but overall the mechanics of how the wormhole and time travel work are handled in a way that makes them plausible.

Fear of Dying
by Erica Jong

What Haunts Many of Us (5/15/2015)

For women of a particular age, Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying was the naughty, titillating book that fearlessly spoke of sexual yearnings and escapades. Forty-two years later she returns with, if not quite a sequel, a novel in which many women will be able to see themselves and their current stage of life—sandwiched between aging, dying parents and newly adult children, often with sex on the back burner for now. (Not that she isn’t contemplating it.) She’s a savvy enough writer that she references with a sly implicit wink that earlier book by making the narrator of Fear of Flying the narrator of the current novel’s best friend. The situations are real and written with compassion. The writing is spare, but filled with references to problems and outlooks the average female in her audience of that certain age can certainly relate to.

The Art of Baking Blind
by Sarah Vaughan

Nothing's as It Seems (3/16/2015)

Start with a British baking contest similar to "The Great British Baking Show" on PBS. Add a search for the new Mrs. Eaden (a British Julia Child). Mix in four everyday women who love to bake and, for spice, one gentleman wishing to escape his all-female household. Put them through their paces on a variety of difficult but tasty baked treats. Stir in detailed biographies of their actual home lives, longings and psychological tics. Dust with the biography of the real Mrs. Eaden whose recipes they try to emulate. Bake with all the ensuing tension over who will win and you have a winning novel best not read on a hungry stomach.

The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell
by William Klaber

A Woman in Search of Herself (12/17/2014)

When I sent to review The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell, I didn't realize the amazing journey I'd be taken on in this true story of a free-thinker who manages to encounter and battle with all manner of religious, political, and social strictures in the middle nineteenth century. As a woman, it is amazing to see how she lived as a man for long periods of time without being questioned (at least directly). One hundred years before the sexual revolution, this woman carved out her own niche and suffered mightily for it and because of it. If you've ever wondered what such a life might have been like, here it is, well-researched and well-told, though the fact that it's been written by a man leaves some questions women readers might have liked to see answered.

Backyard
by Norman Draper

Skullduggery in the Garden (10/25/2014)

If you've ever been a gardener, you'll enjoy this light-hearted romp through suburban Livia's first ever gardening competition, along the lines of the dog show exposé Best in Show. Beautifully detailed yards and planting descriptions fill the pages. Gardening contestants are also described in detail: erstwhile gardening know-it-all, Dr. Phyllis Sproot, who'll stop at nothing to ensure her coreopsis-salvia-hollyhock blend will take first prize. Her acolyte and drudge, Marta Poppendauber, first admired Sproot for her gardening expertise, but is lured by her mentor into nefarious garden espionage and attempted destruction of the sure winning garden. Amateurs Nan and George Fremont enjoy relaxing and surveying their garden work from their patio with the help of their favorite Merlot or the occasional gin and tonic. There's even a self-taught witch hired by Sproot. All the goings on rise to a head during a fearsome thunder storm with straight-line winds just before the final judging. Even the local police are pulled into the action.

Accidents of Marriage
by Randy Susan Meyers

A Marriage Often Is Not What It Seems (7/1/2014)

We try to live our lives to the best of our abilities, but our relationships with others can be at times and simultaneously helpful, distracting and destructive. How one family adjusts to those changes is explored in depth in Accidents of Marriage. Two intelligent headstrong people who mean well find their actions running at cross-purposes to their goals. Maddy thinks she has a handle on helping others but can't manage her own life without secret chemical support. Ben, tries to be a good husband and father, but his legal career is taking its toll and he is subject to terrifyingly angry outbursts at random moments that even his wife can't seem to handle. When that anger results in a horrible car crash that leaves Maddy hospitalized and with brain damage, both of them adjust to the changes in their life and marriage differently. Even their teenaged daughter and young son must take on new roles due to these changes. Author Randy Susan Meyers takes an unsparing look at this family and its situation with the understanding eye that allows the reader to feel the pain and struggle as if it were personal.

In Praise of Hatred
by Khaled Khalifa

In Praise of Women (3/12/2014)

The news is full of stories of disaffected young Muslim men, who pledge themselves to become martyrs for their faith, but not until this novel do we see what is/was happening to the equally fervent young women, many of them educated, who take up the cause beside them.
It's a layered tale that shows the reader the many levels of intrigue within the community where everything from position to power to sexual favors is available for a price and corruption at every level is rampant. I loved learning about this community we never really hear much about. I think as world citizens, it is up to us to try. There is much to learn here about the inner workings of family life, culture, customs and the intricate ways women navigate in a culture that outwardly relegates them to second-class citizens. Prepare yourself for grisly description if death and torture and the way detained women are humiliated. Yet our unnamed endures and that seems to be the message.

The Venetian Bargain
by Marina Fiorato

A Bargain Worth Making (12/17/2013)

This riveting tale of sixteenth century political intrigue amidst the time of plague will keep readers fascinated from beginning to end. Even if historical novels are not your usual read, there's enough going on here to interest almost everyone. The novel employs its author's exhaustive research in the areas of sixteenth century medical practice, middle eastern architecture, western European and Islamic religious beliefs, herbalism, and naval warfare. Its unlikely heroine, Feyra, a young female harem doctor, is a product of two worlds: her mother, Catholic Venetian royalty, her father a Turkish sea captain who swept her away to Constantinople. How Feyra ends up in Venice working side-by side with Annibale, a young Padua-trained doctor is the main story, but all is tied together through the clever metaphorical and organizational references to the Apocalyptic Four Horses. Intrigued? As the angel says, "Come and see."

The Affairs of Others
by Amy Grace Loyd

Coming out of Her Shell (7/23/2013)

When a person experiences the severe illness of a beloved spouse, learning to administer drugs to alleviate the pain but still loses the partner, one normal tendency is to withdraw from social interaction. This is the scenario in which the reader encounters Cassie Cassill. But instead of withdrawing completely, she purchases a small Brooklyn brownstone apartment building, carefully interviewing prospective tenants to establish clear boundaries of privacy. But when one tenant accepts a job in Paris and sublets his apartment to an older woman artist, Cassie is introduced to the sounds of that woman's rough sex with a lover. Gradually, in learning about all her tenants and their peccadillos, she learns not only about them, but about herself and her own emotions.

The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad

Appearance vs.Reality (4/17/2013)

The Caretaker presents readers with characters who all seek something elusive, be it absolution for a prison term resulting from trumped up charges, for power and wealth beyond one's racial and economic background, for acceptance in a culturally diverse land, or even the love of a parent. Along the way we learn about the background of the Sikh religion and political struggles on the international stage. All of the characters have suffered losses that affect them deeply, and in some ways this former soldier turned Martha's Vineyard estate gardener becomes a caretaker of all their secrets.

Where You Can Find Me: A Novel
by Sheri Joseph

A Way to Healing Is Found After Unthinkable Horror (2/27/2013)

An 11-year old boy is kidnapped by a sexual predator, subjected to drugging and sexual abuse by numerous men. He is later "rescued" by one of these men and kept as the man's "son." Where You Can Find Me is the story of a family's response to the disappearance and the miraculous recovery of the boy four years later.

This story about an ugly horror that is hidden from most of our society is set against the backdrop of the beauty of Nicaragua's lush forests and teeming wildlife. It contemplates what binds a family together and what threatens to tear it apart, showing the disparate reactions of a fierce mother, a confused father, a sister just becoming old enough to understand what her brother has suffered, a wayward uncle who suddenly finds himself in the position of the stable protector, and a grandmother trying to find her own way.

Returned to this family, the boy must make decisions about what love really is and if he can re-enter the family he barely remembers, still emotionally pulled toward the man who "saved" him, and although raising him as his son, still continued the sexual abuse.

Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin

A Golden Tale (1/9/2013)

Abigail Tarttelin tackles with compassion the unlikely tale of an intersex individual who identifies as a male, but could be either. We are introduced to Max, the high school Golden Boy who hides a terrible secret. This book would appeal to anyone interested in questions of sexuality and acceptance, but told from multiple viewpoints as each character has his or her own section.

The Edge of the Earth
by Christina Schwarz

The Edge of the Earth (10/15/2012)

The Edge of the Earth could be enjoyed by young adult to adult readers, especially those with an interest in history, biology, feminism and anthropology. The heroine is educated, plucky and resourceful. Book clubs also would find it a good generator of discussions on self-determinism, freedom of expression, and male-female relationships, with a special emphasis on moral questions of treatment of others. Though not written in the same vein, the subtheme of the book was like Hornblower's stories of adventure for young men, but this for a young woman breaking free of family expectations to find her own way.