BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Rebecca H. (Bolton, CT)

The Seven O'Clock Club
by Amelia Ireland

Enchanting Story (11/6/2024)

I loved this; it's a really different premise and an excellent read. You wouldn't expect a story about a disparate collection of people who come together for group grief therapy to make such a completely absorbing novel, but it does. Each character has such a unique voice; …more

The Little Italian Hotel: A Novel
by Phaedra Patrick

The Little Italian Hotel (4/16/2023)

This gentle, heartfelt story is a delight to read. Themes of change, loss, grief, mortality, new beginnings, and moving on are woven throughout the novel. The eclectic, somewhat rag-tag group that congregates at the Hotel Splendido, near Venice, forges new connections while …more

In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari

In the Time of Our History by Susanne Pari (9/22/2022)

A beautifully written, character-driven gem of a novel, this is one of those stories that makes you sad when you reach the last page because you just aren't ready to let the characters go yet.
The displacement and the sense of not belonging anywhere common to immigrants are …more

The Lies I Tell: A Novel
by Julie Clark

Excellent Psychological Thriller (3/24/2022)

This excellent thriller moves between the viewpoints of two protagonists, one a con artist and the other a journalist, who pit themselves against each other in a cat and mouse game that spans decades. The ever-changing perceptions that each character has about the other …more

Two Storm Wood: A Novel
by Philip Gray

Two Storm Wood (12/20/2021)

This is a compelling novel that combines historical fiction, suspense, romance, and social commentary, and has all the best elements of each. The story alternates between two timelines: the latter part of WWI and just after the war. Amy Vanneck's secret fiance, Edward, has …more

The Temple House Vanishing
by Rachel Donohue

The Temple House Vanishing (4/29/2021)

This eerie mystery told in dual timelines and from dual points of view evokes a darkly menacing atmosphere from the beginning. The setting is Temple House, an isolated, gothic structure originally the home of an eccentric collector and later a school for adolescent girls …more

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
by Marie Benedict

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie (10/27/2020)

Benedict's novel is an interesting fictionalized take on the well-known disappearance of the mystery writer Agatha Christie in 1926 when her whereabouts were unknown for eleven days. Her car was found abandoned with a bag of clothes inside. Although it was unknown to the …more

Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke

Piranesi (8/12/2020)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a surreal marvel of a story. Piranesi lives in a world enclosed by walls, a vast labyrinthine structure confining an ocean, that he names the House. The House contains huge rooms filled with statues and winding halls that connect them. The …more

The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal
by Bryn Turnbull

The Woman Before Wallis (7/10/2020)

"A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal"—thus reads the subtitle of Bryn Turnbull's new novel The Woman Before Wallis. The period of European and American history between the wars, especially the mid-twenties to late thirties, is one which retains its …more

Miss Austen
by Gill Hornby

Miss Austen (3/1/2020)

The Miss Austen of Gill Hornby's beautifully-imagined novel is not Jane, but her sister Cassandra, whose life was intricately bound up in her family, especially her famous sibling. Those familiar with Jane's novels will enjoy the prose style, reminiscent of Austen's own, …more

Ellie and the Harpmaker
by Hazel Prior

Ellie and the Harpmaker (4/4/2019)

A sweet story about two social misfits who find a second chance at love with one another. Memorable characters and the Exmoor setting make the book very enjoyable. The novel explores the healing power of music and the value of confidence in one's own creative powers ( …more

My Lovely Wife
by Samantha Downing

My Lovely Wife (11/3/2018)

Dysfunctional doesn't begin to describe the marriage and family relationships of the two main characters in this novel. Harlan Coben and Meg Gardiner both apparently liked this dark psychological thriller, and I read it with high expectations. It is well written, …more

Meet Me at the Museum
by Anne Youngson

Meet Me at the Museum (5/4/2018)

A gentle story about second chances, Meet Me at the Museum is a story about a friendship conducted entirely through letters. The characters explore themes of family, stagnation and change, finding joy in one's circumstances, love and loss, and the importance of place in our …more

The French Girl
by Lexie Elliott

The French Girl (9/13/2017)

The re-opening of a cold case by French authorities plunges six college friends into turmoil in this fast-paced mystery. Nineteen-year-old Severine was the "mademoiselle next door" to the family holiday home of one of the group. Missing for years, her body has recently been …more

The Book of Summer
by Michelle Gable

The Book of Summer by Michelle Gable (3/12/2017)

Cliff House, the beloved summer home for three generations of the Young family women, is about to fall into the sea. Erosion is claiming the bluff it stands on in Siasconset, Nantucket Island. Dr. Bess Codman, pregnant and with a crumbling marriage, comes home to convince …more

The Typewriter's Tale
by Michiel Heyns

The Typewriter's Tale (1/16/2017)

Michiel Heyns' novel, told from the point of view of the writer Henry James's stenographer, is an interesting read. If you enjoy reading Henry James, or other novelists of his era (turn of the twentieth century), you will probably enjoy this book. The characters are …more

I See You
by Clare Mackintosh

I See You (10/30/2016)

A psychological thriller in the vein of Girl on a Train, Clare Mackintosh's novel is a story that is hard to put down. The characters are believable and well-drawn, and the story line grabs the reader quickly and doesn't let go until the final page.

Zoe Walker has two grown …more

The Comet Seekers
by Helen Sedgwick

The Comet Seekers (9/3/2016)

This novel tells the story of two protagonists, Roisin, an Irish astronomer, and Francois, a French chef. Themes of longing and loss, belonging and freedom, longing for the past and hope for the future, sound throughout the narrative. The stories of secondary characters …more

The Secret Language of Stones: A Daughters of La Lune Novel
by M. J. Rose

The Secret Language of Stones (4/29/2016)

Paris, 1918: the long world war is finally drawing to an end, and Opaline Duplessi, a young apprentice to a Russian emigre jeweler, prays for an end to the suffering which she encounters all too closely. Opaline is a lithomancer, whose powers are concentrated through …more

The Language of Secrets
by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Language of Secrets (11/15/2015)

Set in Canada, Ausma Zehanant Khan's second novel, the Language of Secrets, is the story of a Muslim Canadian police detective investigating the murder of his former friend,who, unbeknownst to him, is an undercover agent for Canada's federal intelligence agency, INSET. His …more

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by Tommy Orange

Tommy Orange follows There There with a powerful multi-generational story of survival and legacy.

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Dream Count
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A searing new novel from the bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists, exploring four women's desires.

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