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Reviews by Barbara C. (Fountain Hills, AZ)

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The Rabbit Back Literature Society
by Pasi Ilmari Jaaskelainen

The Rabbit Back Literataure Society (11/15/2014)

If you like quirky, mysterious, unconventional, disturbing books with undertones of magical realism you will like this book. RBLS is a book for book lovers and thinkers. It is not a book for readers who like linear plots and conventional characters. If you like books with …more

Accidents of Marriage
by Randy Susan Meyers

Accidents of Marriage (6/9/2014)

This book, about a family in distress, is a quick read and could use a bit of editing. It seems to be redundant and repetitive, so that I found myself rolling my eyes at some parts. The three main characters, Maddy, the mother, Ben, the father and Emma, the 14 year old …more

The Venetian Bargain
by Marina Fiorato

The Venetian Bargain (12/4/2013)

I very much enjoyed reading this book. It was tightly written, with movie-star characters, fascinating historical setting and direct, plot driven narrative. The book has several themes cleverly intertwined. The rivalry between Turkey and Venice in the fifteenth century …more

The Last Enchantments
by Charles Finch

Not Very Enchanting (11/5/2013)

Coming of age stories have been done so often and so well, this one leaves much to be desired. The characters did not speak to me and I felt were not well developed. The story jumped from one to another, and I felt no connection or sympathy toward any of them. I resented …more

The Edge of Normal
by Carla Norton

The Edge of Normal (7/18/2013)

This book was definitely a page turner. Once I read the first page I was hooked and could not put it down, despite the disturbing content and pretty graphic descriptions of the kidnapping situation. The Author sometimes writes in the present tense, which serves to keep the …more

The Daughters of Mars
by Thomas Keneally

The Daughers of Mars (5/24/2013)

The Daughters of Mars. Mars the god of war. What a perfect title for a book which lays bare the horrors, the futility, the brutality, and "glories" of war. Sally and Naomi are the daughters, the faithful sister nurses from Australia, who devote three years of their lives to …more saving and mending the broken bodies and minds of the men who were fed into the flames of the war machine of World War I.

Keneally does not stint on the scenes, smells and feel of the men under fire who suffered shrapnel, bullets, bombings and the ghastly new killing device - mustard gas. The medical procedures, techniques and equipment used in 1916 were precursors of our modern medicine - chloroform, ether, blood transfusions, sepsis control, and morphine. As primitive as the surgical and medical theatres were, it was interesting to read that these methods saved lives and repaired bodies, even then.

The formal writing style of Keneally is rather Dickensian in it archaic structure, constrained tone, and unique turn of phrase. Several sentences and paragraphs required second readings to fully grasp the meaning and content of the words - vocabulary so diverse and complex to require a dictionary. The lack of quotation marks was, at first, a questionable technique, but, in reading further, it seemed to provide a flow and exchange of dialogue without the constant break of marks.

It took a while into the book before the sisters came to life. The constant jumping from one to the other within a chapter was disconcerting and a bit confusing. at first Charlie, Ian, Mitchie, Lady Tarlton and Constable were perfect foils as companions to the sisters. It was interesting to see the change in Naomi as she was introduced to the Quaker community, and Sally as Charlie exposed her to the art masters.

One criteria of a "good book" is its influence on the reader to further research ideas, characters, incidents, places, etc. The Daughters of Mars was a wealth of new information: ANZAC and involvement of Australians in WWI; the timeline and theatres of the war; the medical techniques; the devastation of venereal disease and influenza; the idea of conscription and shirkers were all concepts introduced in the book which required more thought and background research.

Of course, the ending still has me scratching my head. Did Keneally really mean to have two endings and have the reader pick? Was he trying to find the best ending? Am I missing something? After his forthright and non-emotional language throughout the book, the complex and magical realistic duplicity was a shock. Yes, there were little surprises here and there, like the questions as to whether Sally and Naomi did commit a mercy killing, but all in all, the story was rather straightforward until this mysterious ending.

If a book club is willing to read a very long and dense book, and is amenable to reading about lots and lots of bloody wartime injuries, this book has much food for thought and discussion. (less)

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Reviews by Barbara C. (Fountain Hills, AZ)

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