Reviews by Gail K. (Saratoga Springs, NY)

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The Stolen Child
The Stolen Child: A Novel
by Ann Hood
Poignant and heart warming (4/6/2024)
From the first page, where I met Enzo, the man who runs The Museum of Tears in Naples in 1935, to the next chapter that introduced Nick, a young American soldier in a trench dug on the property of a farmhouse in France in 1917, to the following chapter set in 1973 that …more
The Divorcees
The Divorcees
by Rowan Beaird
A Splendid Debut (10/24/2023)
Rowan Beaird's The Divorcées has it all: strong, authentic, though not always likable, female characters, a great setting, a compelling plot and a satisfying conclusion. The characters are varied and believable. Reno, Nevada, with its divorce ranches and rather seedy …more
The Continental Affair
The Continental Affair: A Novel
by Christine Mangan
A Great Chase (6/22/2023)
Join Henri as he chases Louise across Europe in search of the money she's stolen and he is charged with recovering. In alternating double chapters from each character's point of view, the reader is told their stories in "the present" and "before." From Granada to Paris to …more
The Little Italian Hotel
The Little Italian Hotel: A Novel
by Phaedra Patrick
Delightful (3/27/2023)
Phaedra Patrick's The Little Italian Hotel is a delightful novel about love, unlikely friendships and the slow process of mending broken hearts. I especially enjoyed the characters, who were quirky but likable. If the plot seemed a bit predictable at times, that, for me, …more
The Lost English Girl
The Lost English Girl
by Julia Kelly
A Most Satisfying Read (2/1/2023)
The Lost English Girl is not just another book in the long string of World War II historical fiction works. Its focus on children who were evacuated to the countryside from major cities in England in anticipation of the Blitz and the parents who agonized over their …more
Once We Were Home
Once We Were Home
by Jennifer Rosner
A very satisfying read (10/29/2022)
Novels that are set during and immediately after WWII are always among my favorites. I was eager to read this story that focuses on children who were removed from their families during the war, ostensibly for their safety. However, Once We Were Home is so much more. At the …more
Jackie & Me
Jackie & Me
by Louis Bayard
A Successful Foray into Alternative History (6/2/2022)
Because I am of an age that I remember Jackie Kennedy Onassis, from her White House days to her death, I wasn't sure how I would like this "alternative history" written by Louis Bayard. Much to my surprise and delight, I enjoyed it enormously. I'd like to think that Jackie …more
Sisters of the Great War
Sisters of the Great War: A Novel
by Suzanne Feldman
A winner! (8/31/2021)
Many novels using WWI as a backdrop have flooded the book world recently, but this one stands out. The authentic characters and the portrayal of the stark reality of war had me turning page after page. Though it is always difficult to read about the devastation of war, …more
Morningside Heights
Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin
Morningside Heights, a Love Story (3/24/2021)
Although it sounds like a cliché, Morningside Heights is a love story. It is the love story of a husband and a wife, parents and children, even caregivers and the person needing care. These relationships are at times difficult, tender, poignant and sometimes humorous. In …more
Stories from Suffragette City
Stories from Suffragette City
by M.J. Rose, Fiona Davis
Nice tribute to the Suffrage Movement (10/20/2020)
Although I rarely choose to read short stories, I'm so glad I made an exception in requesting Stories from Suffragette City. While each story is set in New York City on October 15, 1915, the day when thousands of women marched up Fifth Avenue demanding the right to vote, …more
Daughter of the Reich
Daughter of the Reich: A Novel
by Louise Fein
Daughter of the Reich (3/4/2020)
Hetty Heinrich, the title character of this novel, has a father who is rapidly rising in the Nazi Party in the late 1930s, a mother who fully supports her husband and a brother who is dedicated to the Hitler Youth movement. Hetty herself is on a path to becoming the …more
The Girl in White Gloves
The Girl in White Gloves: A Novel of Grace Kelly
by Kerri Maher
The Girl in White Gloves (11/8/2019)
If you are a fan of classic Hollywood films of the 1950s, or if you have always wondered if "fairytale marriages" end happily ever after, this is the book for you. Kerri Maher breathes fictionalized life into one of the most glamorous and talented women of her time. …more
Red Letter Days
Red Letter Days
by Sarah-Jane Stratford
Red Letter Days (10/5/2019)
In these turbulent political days, Stratford's novel is a timely - and perhaps frightening - work of historical fiction. Set in New York City and London during the Red Scare, this book successfully captures the atmosphere of that bizarre period in history, and I found it …more
The Secrets We Kept
The Secrets We Kept: A novel
by Lara Prescott
The Secrets We Kept (6/30/2019)
At a time when many wonderful historical fiction novels set before, during and just after the two World Wars abound, I found this novel set during the Cold War very satisfying. Add to the setting Boris Pasternak; his novel Doctor Zhivago; his mistress, the woman who …more
The Guest Book
The Guest Book
by Sarah Blake
Kudos to Sarah Blake (3/22/2019)
Three generations of intriguing women. An exclusive family-owned island off the coast of Maine. Lives of privilege versus lives without. A strict sense of matriarchal duty. Secrets. Regrets. All elements that draw me in for a good read. All elements in Sarah Blake's The …more
At the Wolf's Table
At the Wolf's Table
by Rosella Postorino
WWII novel from a new perspective. (10/14/2018)
This work of historical fiction, inspired by true events, addresses a topic that is, at once, obscure and fascinating. I am intrigued by the idea that women were employed to taste Hitler's food before it was served to him, and Postorino's novel gives a very satisfactory …more
Vox
Vox
by Christina Dalcher
Speechless (4/29/2018)
After finishing Vox by Christina Dalcher I was left speechless, which is pretty ironic, considering it is a story entirely about language. This is a cautionary tale about a U. S. society in the near future in which women and girls are limited to one hundred words a day. It …more
Meet Me at the Museum
Meet Me at the Museum
by Anne Youngson
Meet Me at the Museum? Definitely! (4/13/2018)
Epistolary novels have always appealed to me, so I was predisposed to like this one from the start. I wasn't disappointed. The more I read the exchanges shared by Kristian, a Danish museum curator, and Tina, a farm housewife in East Anglia, the more I appreciated the …more
Anatomy of a Miracle
Anatomy of a Miracle
by Jonathan Miles
A nice surprise (1/2/2018)
When I first approached Anatomy of a Miracle, knowing that the story centered around a Mississippi veteran of the Afghanistan war who returned home paralyzed and later regained the use of his legs, I feared something pseudo-"inspirational," perhaps even maudlin. What a nice …more
The Days When Birds Come Back
The Days When Birds Come Back
by Deborah Reed
A Satisfying Read (10/28/2017)
The paths of two souls, damaged by life, cross, and neither person will ever be the same again. Once I began the story of Jameson and June, I found it difficult to put down. I loved the setting in the Pacific Northwest, a part of our country as unfamiliar to me as Timbuktu; …more
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