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Reviews by Marion W. (Issaquah, WA)

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The Wren, the Wren
The Wren, the Wren: A Novel
by Anne Enright
A Tough Read (8/1/2023)
The premise sounded interesting: an Irish poet's effect on his wife, Terry; his daughter, Carmel; and his granddaughter, Nell. Talented Phil McDaragh may have been, but a family man he wasn't. The reader has to adjust to varying viewpoints from the three women, with …more
The Lost English Girl
The Lost English Girl
by Julia Kelly
Love and loss (3/6/2023)
A good portrayal of the working-class in England, beginning in 1935, dealing with societal attitudes of that time. A hasty forced marriage between a Catholic girl and a Jewish boy dictates Viv's life after the birth of her daughter. A few years later, World War II forces …more
The Last Romantics
The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin
Discontented. (1/14/2019)
This is a strange book, beginning in 2079, when the narrator is 102 years old, and jumping back to her childhood with three older siblings. The kids' lives take various tangents, as one might expect. The mood throughout is sombre, with the feeling that disasters are …more
The Necklace
The Necklace
by Claire McMillan
"All that glitters..."! (7/2/2017)
Hopping back and forth between 1925 and 2009, with various family members (would-be inheritors) vying for a spectacular piece of jewelry, we read of human frailty,competitiveness,
jealousy, intrigue, and (not to be forgotten), lust! This is an entertaining novel with …more
The Half Wives
The Half Wives
by Stacia Pelletier
Sad. Depressing. (1/11/2017)
This is a sorrowful novel, hinging upon an actual occurrence: the disinterment of a body when a cemetery is to be closed. The fact that one of the graves holds the long-deceased son of a couple who have never got past his death is agonizing. Told from several viewpoints, …more
The Tea Planter's Wife
The Tea Planter's Wife
by Dinah Jefferies
Tea, Troubles, Tragedy (8/9/2016)
This is an interesting novel, replete with evocative scenes of the beautiful country of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and the life of colonials there in the 1920s. The author has done much research into the history and culture of that place and era. Prejudiced attitudes toward …more
The Widow
The Widow
by Fiona Barton
A Child Vanishes (1/7/2016)
"The Widow" is a disturbing book. The story is not new--the abduction of a small child--but the psychology of the wife of the perpetrator is of interest. We all wonder how such women could be oblivious to the secrets, or are compliant with the actions, of their husbands. In …more
We That Are Left
We That Are Left
by Clare Clark
The Revelatory Years (8/6/2015)
We've all read many novels set during World War I, but what of its aftermath and the effects on British society? At the heart of this story is Ellinghurst, a stately home, with all the attendant concerns about maintenance, inheritance now that the heir is gone, and women …more
Letters to the Lost
Letters to the Lost
by Iona Grey
Then, Now, Forever (3/26/2015)
This is a novel that romantics will love! An American pilot stationed in England during the Blitz meets an unhappily married young woman, and despite his foreboding that he won't fulfill his requisite twenty-five missions, these star-crossed lovers immortalize their love in …more
The Paris Winter
The Paris Winter
by Imogen Robertson
Step back in time... (7/19/2014)
This is a highly atmospheric novel which will transport the reader back to Paris in 1909. Young Englishwoman Maud Heighton struggles to train as an artist at a time when few women were accepted as such. She meets women from many strata of society, and a man, seemingly …more
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