This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is a terrifying and all too believable fable that imagines a not-too-distant future America where a law has been passed that protects "American Values." The first part of the book is told from the perspective of Bird, a young boy whose mother disappeared three years earlier. It describes his life in a society that removes children from parents who are believed to not be sufficiently American. The second part is from his mother Margaret's point of view and describes her experiences in the years after the passage of PACT (Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act)." The book is beautifully written and a page-turner. Among other things it is a love letter to libraries and those who protect free speech.

Kerri Maher has written a fascinating novel about Sylvia Beach, the American who opened Shakespeare and Company book shop in Paris in 1919. The store became a mecca for writers who flocked to Paris in the years between the world wars. Although I knew a little about Sylvia Beach before reading this book, I was delighted to learn more about her and her store. Her role as publisher of Ulysses, the ground-breaking novel by James Joyce, and the saga of their relationship formed a significant portion of the book. I particularly enjoyed reading about the many legendary writers (Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and many more). It was a pleasure to experience the world of the "lost generation" through the perspective of Sylvia, who was at the center of it. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the period and am grateful to the author for bringing to life someone who was at the heart of it.

In 1926, Agatha Christie mysteriously disappeared for 11 days leaving her husband and small daughter behind. England was riveted to the investigation and thousands of citizens joined in the search for the famous author.
Marie Benedict has re-imagined this story as a battle of wills between Christie and her husband Col. Archibald Christie. There are two narratives, that of Mrs. Christie's starting in the early days of the couple's courtship and that of Col. Christie's during the time of the search for his missing wife. Like any good mystery, there are unreliable narrators, misdirection and unexpected plot twists. One of the pleasures of this novel is seeing how Christie's life and environment is reflected in her books. This is a must read for fans of Agatha Christie as well as readers with an interest in stories set in the years around World War 1 in England.

This book is a must read for anyone fascinated with British royalty and the aristocracy during the period between the two world wars. There are three interwoven stories - that of Lady Thelma Furness who was the mistress of Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), the wild and scandalous life of her twin sister Gloria Vanderbilt, and the New York custody trial over Gloria's daughter "Little Gloria" in 1934. While I found it hard to admire many of these characters, the author brought them to life and has written an unputdownable novel. The custody trial over 10 year old Gloria Vanderbilt was a tragedy for the "poor little rich girl" who overcame her difficult early years to become Gloria Vanderbilt, the socialite, artist and jeans designer. The descriptions of her mother's life on the French Riviera brought to mind Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night. I was so engaged by this book that I immediately read the recent memoir by Gloria Vanderbilt and her son Anderson Cooper. It was so interesting to read her reflections on her early years and lifelong search for love and caring from her mother.

I loved this novel which explores a year in the life of Antonia Vega, recently retired English professor, following the sudden death of her beloved husband. After months of grief, her life begins again when two events occur that bring her out of her solitary misery. Without giving too much away, the story involves immigrants new and old and family relations and drama and should appeal to anyone interested in these topics. The language is poetic, lyrical and insightful. I recommend this book to book clubs as the story is a "good read" and the issues raised will stimulate thoughtful discussion.

This book is for anyone who was fascinated by the cultural and social world of mid 20th century Manhattan. It is a work of historical fiction that imagines the lives of Truman Capote and his "swans," the beautiful wealthy women who dominated NY society in the 50s and 60s. The story is well-researched and well-written yet very gossipy, although not nearly as gossipy and scathing as Capote's 1975 story that exposed the private lives of these women and led to his sad final years.
I enjoyed the book in a voyeuristic way while continually being appalled by the characters' privileged and superficial lives.

This was one of those books that you can't stop reading. Beryl Markham was an amazing woman whose fierce independence and bravery predated the woman's movement by more than half a century. Her story, as told by Paula McLain, was both poignant and empowering. The setting in the world of colonial Africa in the 1920s was fascinating.


Beryl's family moves to Kenya when she is a young child when her father seeks to restart his life through farming and training horses. Her mother cannot tolerate the difficult life style and returns to England leaving her 4 year old daughter bereft. Beryl learns to survive through her friendship with local native people, particularly a young boy, and through helping her father with the horses. As she matures, she is something of a "wild child." Her father's farm fails and she is married off at 17 to a local farmer. She chafes at the life of a farmer's wife and eventually chooses to find her own life as a horse trainer at a time when this was a profession for men only. Her true love is her homeland Kenya and the adventures and people described in the book make for an exciting story. The book was well crafted but I was so sorry to see it end that I look forward to reading Markham's own memoir West with the Night and that of Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa,. Dinesen, the pen name of Karen Blixen, along with her lover and partner, Denys Finch Hatton plays a large part in Beryl's life and story. This is an excellent adventure/ romance /historical novel.

Although this is the eighth in the author's series of mysteries set in rural Quebec and featuring Montreal homicide detective Armande Gamache, it was the first of the series that I have read. The story was interesting, fast-paced and complicated in the best possible way. There were two major parallel story lines - one involving the murder of a reclusive elderly woman just before she was to travel to tiny Quebec village Three Pines for Christmas; the other involving a massive government conspiracy. Gamache is a thoughtful middle aged less-than-successful detective whose understanding of human nature is an important element in his solving cases and mysteries. Although set in a completely different location, the book reminded me of the Inspector Guido Brunetti mysteries set in Venice by Donna Leon. In both series, characters (the detective and his family and friends) and setting are important aspects of the stories. Psychological investigation is important in both as well and it is often an understanding of human nature that leads the investigator to discover the truth. This was my first Louise Penny mystery but will definitely not be my last.

This debut novel set in current day Boston was a fun interesting read.
The main character – Claire Roth – is a talented artist who because of a scandal early in her career has turned to copying masterpieces for a living. She is asked by a prominent gallery owner to copy a Degas painting for one of his clients. The subject sounds dry but in fact the story is a fast-paced and convoluted mystery and Shapiro is a good writer. We learn much about the Boston art world, the 1990 Gardner Museum art heist, and history about Isabella Stewart Gardner and her museum. The "mystery" behind this work of art moves the story along quickly and the involvement of the Boston Police and the FBI puts it in the quasi-thriller category.

Sacre Bleu is comic historical fiction about the post impressionist painters of the late 19th century. Toulouse Lautrec is one of the main characters. Fiction about art and artists is one of my favorite types but this book took me awhile to get into because of its totally irreverent approach to its subject matter. Once I got over the author’s sophomoric potty-mouth writing style, I enjoyed the book a lot. The author captured the angst of artistic life and had an interesting take on the artist’s muse. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the works of art referred to in the story. As I read the book, I felt I was reading a comic book or graphic novel. The most similar book that I know is Secret Lives of Great Artists by Elizabeth Lunday which is a graphic book.

Although I had high hopes of an unusual and interesting story that re-imagined the story of Adam and Eve and dealt with issues of Biblical literalism and scientific knowledge, I was disappointed with Sena Jeter Naslund’s new novel Adam and Eve.
The story just didn't make sense and the characters were wooden and unconvincing, almost caricatures of the philosophical positions they represented. It felt a lot like a mash-up of sci-fi tale, political thriller, romantic idyll and lessons in ancient art and biblical discovery, with none of the threads developed enough to be credible. There are moments of descriptive beauty, especially in the long middle section in a modern-day Eden, but all in all the story line was just too far-fetched and the characters unengaging.

Told in flashback by Grace, a loyal family servant, this debut novel tells the story of the Hartford family and Riverton, their English country estate, during the first quarter of the 20th century. This book has it all – the charmed but tragic lives of the landed gentry, the world of their faithful servants, passionate and doomed love affairs, the impact of World War I on English society, changes in the role of women in society - to name just a few. The story was briskly paced and kept me in suspense until the end, when Grace’s secret is finally revealed. The characters were believable and sympathetic in that British stiff upper-lip sort of way. If you like books like Rebecca, Atonement and Water for Elephants, as I do, this book is highly recommended.