Reviews by Susan P. (Boston, MA)

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Girl Falling
Girl Falling: A Novel
by Hayley Scrivenor
Girl Falling (9/29/2024)
A young woman in present-day Australia goes rock climbing with her beloved girlfriend and her best friend. She and her best friend have a tight bond because of secrets. The best friend doesn't always act like a good friend to her yet she can't/won't let the relationship go. …more
Help Wanted
Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman
Help Wanted (1/26/2024)
After reading HELP WANTED, you won't look at the humans working in retail the same, especially the people working behind the scenes -- unpacking, shelving, cleaning. The book details the dreams, expectations, hopes, motivations of the (pretty much unseen by the public) …more
The Divorcees
The Divorcees
by Rowan Beaird
The Divorcees (11/29/2023)
A fictional but accurate look at divorce in the U.S. in the 1950s -- how it is unfair to those without resources of her own, how it's viewed as shameful, and how it can only be obtained for what is considered a serious reason. Readers younger than baby boomers will find it …more
The Lost English Girl
The Lost English Girl
by Julia Kelly
The Lost English Girl (3/1/2023)
In Liverpool before WWII, Vivian, a Catholic young woman, becomes pregnant by Jewish musician Joshua (whom she likes very much but they've only known each other a short while). His parents are accepting. Her parents -- dominated by a cruel, unfeeling, controlling, and AWFUL …more
Wade in the Water
Wade in the Water: A Novel
by Nyani Nkrumah
Wade in the Water (11/3/2022)
A racist white family in 1960s Mississippi (where the civil rights students were killed) and a Black family the next town over in the 1980s. The entitled daughter of the white family seemingly escapes her racist legacy and in the 1980s is a graduate student at Princeton. …more
The Family Izquierdo
The Family Izquierdo: A Novel
by Rubén Degollado
The Family Izquierdo (8/11/2022)
This compelling linked-stories tale follows the Mexican-American Izquierdo family from the different points of view of hard-working and prosperous family members (father and mother and their 10 children and their children). They are generally very superstitious (many …more
Metropolis
Metropolis: A Novel
by B. A. Shapiro
Metropolis (4/11/2022)
The idea of this book was so intriguing to me, because I used Metropolitan Storage (the real-life Metropolis) for 6 years. It is exactly as described -- not cozy and a little creepy but clean and quiet -- and I always thought it'd be a great place to hide something …more
The Family Chao
The Family Chao: A Novel
by Lan Samantha Chang
The Family Chao (11/19/2021)
The Chaos, a Chinese-American family -- 2 (separated) parents and 3 very different adult sons -- have a well-regarded (by Asians and non-Asians) restaurant in a Wisconsin town. Pretty much no one is very happy (except maybe the tyrant father) and then a crime. Or accident? …more
Morningside Heights
Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin
Morningside Heights (4/21/2021)
This is a sweet and sad story. Pru, a young Jewish woman from the Midwest, starts graduate school at Columbia and falls for her professor. She finds all the lovely things about him are counterbalanced by problems (his previous marriage, his overshadowing fame) and, later, …more
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman: A Novel
by Julietta Henderson
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman (2/26/2021)
A truly enjoyable story about 11-year-old Norman and his single mum in England. He's just lost his best friend (a very quirky and charismatic boy) -- so, with the help of an elderly co-worker (who knows how to do A LOT), his mum agrees to let Norman try to perform at the …more
Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics
by Jill McCorkle
Hieroglyphics (6/22/2020)
A retired couple move from the Boston area to North Carolina, to be near their daughter, but they are seemingly adrift from any purpose in life. They bonded as young adults by the loss of a parent in childhood although it doesn't seem to have given them insights to each …more
The Last Year of the War
The Last Year of the War
by Susan Meissner
The Last Year of the War (11/29/2018)
A moving story about an American-born teenager with German-born parents during WWII. She and her family were interred during the war at a camp in Texas where she meets a American-born Japanese teenager also interred there. They become fast friends and are separated when …more
Our House
Our House
by Louise Candlish
Our House (7/9/2018)
The house in question belongs to a family in London -- 2 children and two employed parents. The father is a major screw-up and the mother is competent but thoroughly naive. After yet-again an indiscretion on dad's part, the parents part ways but the kids stay in the house. …more
A Place for Us
A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza
A Place for Us (3/22/2018)
A rich and heart-felt story of a Muslim Indian-American family in California in the early 21st century. The youngest child, the only son, is troubled yet adored. Each member of the family tries but each often fails to make others happy. Quietly told from various points of …more
Sometimes I Lie
Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney
Sometimes I Lie (11/21/2017)
This slow-burner twisty tale of friends and sisters is almost dizzying. Just as you've settled on what is happening in the life (and what happened in the past) of the main narrator, you start to realize something is very, very wrong. It's more than a case of an unreliable …more
Never Coming Back
Never Coming Back
by Alison McGhee
Never Coming Back (9/19/2017)
The title of the book refers to what will happen to the narrator's mother (who has early-onset Alzheimer disease); Clara is told that her mother -- as she knew her -- is never coming back. Clara has come back to upstate New York to look out for her mother (in a care …more
The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
The Resurrection of Joan Ashby
by Cherise Wolas
The Resurrection of Joan Ashby (6/28/2017)
The premise -- an accomplished writer putting her career second to family -- is not unusual but it's different for each person. So I was intrigued. Joan's thoughts and actions during the years of motherhood and marriage were enlightening and well written, thoughtful However, …more
Our Short History
Our Short History
by Lauren Grodstein
The Short History of Us (3/8/2017)
The premise of the book is overwhelmingly sad (single mom of a young boy is dying) but it is compelling. As much as a young child can understand what will happen to his mom, it makes sense he wants to know who his father is and wants to meet him (probably would under any …more
Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home
by April Smith
Home Sweet Home (1/4/2017)
HOME SWEET HOME is a bit of an ironic title because Rapid City, South Dakota, where a young NYC couple move, seems anything but sweet. The intelligent young couple and their two small children take immediately (really, immediately?) to 1950s South Dakota ranching life, …more
Cruel Beautiful World
Cruel Beautiful World
by Caroline Leavitt
Cruel Beautiful World (9/15/2016)
I'm usually disinclined to read stories about runaways, especially in controlling relationships, but I couldn't pass up a Caroline Leavitt book. And she did not disappoint! The story of 2 teenage sisters in the late 1960s who live with their adoptive mother. (I was a …more
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