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Reviews by Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)

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The Story Collector
by Evie Woods

Cheerful and Charming (8/16/2024)

Does anyone actually make a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to another continent on Christmas Day? Sarah Harper does in this unusually charming and cheerful story. She leaves New York and relocates to the western coast of Ireland, on a whim, after reading a small news article about fairies living in a countryside Hawthorn tree of Ireland.

Sarah takes a small suitcase and changes of clothing, but her important baggage includes a failed marriage and slight alcohol addiction. After she arrives in Ireland, Sarah stays near the Hawthorn tree at Butler cottage. The story morphs into a dual timeline when Sarah discovers a diary written in 1911. Miss Anna Butler is the narrator and diary owner, and she tells the powerful story of the Hawley family at Thornwood House.

Magical realism is the genre for this novel, and aptly so. There are convincing tales of fairies or leprechauns that control the lives of the Hawley family at Thornwood House.

Mockingbird Summer: A Novel
by Lynda Rutledge

A Bit Too Much About Corky (1/13/2024)

Mockingbird Summer is a Civil Rights and Women’s Rights novel set in Texas, 1964. Star of the book is a thirteen-year-old girl named Kathryn Corcoran, also known as Katie or Corky. She becomes friends with America Willcox, the teenage daughter of Corky’s family housekeeper. Corky’s mother wants to take a part-time job in the local library against the wishes of her husband. Corky wants America to become a member of her softball team against the wishes of many residents in their fictional segregated town, High Cotton, Texas.

I particularly enjoyed the concept of drug store sit-ins that occurred in the story, because I learned very little about them in my high school History classes. I especially disliked the over abundance of Corky’s thoughts throughout the book. The other characters were important to the story, both good and bad, but their thoughts were minor compared to Corky’s. I would recommend this novel for young adult readers, mainly high school age, and it could make a debatable choice for book clubs.

The Vaster Wilds: A Novel
by Lauren Groff

Surviving the Wild (10/9/2023)

The girl had no name. She was a teenager, hired to be a caregiver for the child Bess as the family journeyed to America with the ill-fated Jamestown colonists. Could the girl survive the vaster wilds? The colonists were diseased and starving, so immediately following a murder, the girl fled the colony with only a few crude items to keep her alive. However, she had resourcefulness and that proved to be her most valuable possession.

The novel slowly shifted from the girl’s perilous escape to her thoughts and pondering. Her deep thoughts included her past life, her love for the child Bess, religion, selfishness and even death. Lauren Groff has written this novel magnificently as it truly encompasses the wretched lives of the Jamestown colonists, not the sometimes romanticized versions that we conjure after reading a history lesson. It is up to the reader to decide if the girl’s thoughts are merely recollections or possibly hallucinations as she becomes unhealthier.

Above the Salt: A Novel
by Katherine Vaz

One of a Kind Historical Fiction (10/1/2023)

Above the Salt is a descriptive, lyrical story of two lovers, John Alves and Mary Freitas. Their lives begin in Madeira, a Portuguese island, where the religious uprisings between Catholics and Protestants are at a fever pitch in the mid 1800's. Both become religious exiles to the United States, specifically Springfield, Illinois. They are separated and reacquainted throughout several years, with another suitor in the picture. More than anything, their lives are impacted by political and religious beliefs.

This novel is not written in a language of today's common people. It is written in the elegant language of the time period, allowing me to adjust to a more lengthy reading period. It's honestly one-of-a-kind in the genre of historical fiction.

The Continental Affair: A Novel
by Christine Mangan

Henri and Louise (7/16/2023)

We have Henri and we have Louise, two European adults who never knew one another until Louise mistakenly picked up a bunch of shady money intended for Henri. Why did neither character want to let go of the money? That's the theme and psychological backbone of this novel. The author writes a measured story about these two characters as Henri stalks Louise for a two-week period throughout European cities.

It disappoints me that I am giving this book a mediocre rating. It probably deserves more, but I became annoyed with Henri for not having the guts to get his money back. Also, I became weary with the same story, where Louise and Henri were so dissatisfied with their lives. Maybe a movie might make the slow stroll become a more suspenseful pace.

The Long Ago: A Novel
by Michael McGarrity

The Importance of Family (4/14/2023)

After serving a tour of duty in Vietnam during the early 1960's, Ray Lansdale has returned to his home in Livingston, Montana. Ray's younger sister, Barbara, has disappeared and it's of utmost importance for him to locate her. Their parents are deceased, so Barbara is the only direct relative that Ray has. He spends most of his time and money to search for his sister despite the need to return to active duty.

The novel is simply written in a direct sequence of events, with a few new details revealed daily. There are only minor details about Vietnam, keeping the violence to a minimum. Historical accuracy for the early 1960s is spot on, and after reading this piece of historical fiction, I appreciate the convenience of technology that we have today.

Homestead: A Novel
by Melinda Moustakis

Lessons Learned in Marriage (1/22/2023)

Lawrence and Marie Beringer bit off more than they could chew when they married less than a month after they met in Alaska,1956. It was a marriage built on infatuation and physical attraction. They had many lessons to learn while they lived in an old bus and slowly cleared 150 acres of land near Matanuska Valley and Pioneer Peak over a period of two years. They were homesteaders who barely knew one another.

Each chapter of the book is a monthly chronicle of their marriage building and property construction. The author's prose detail their emotions through thick and thin with astute and fresh writing. The characters have hidden feelings, sometimes allowing lies to mask their daily lives. It's wonderful to read such an original work of fiction.

I am so pleased that BookBrowse allowed me to read this novel about homesteading in Alaska. My own grandfather homesteaded in the 1930s with The Matanuska Colony project, now Palmer Alaska. It was a rough life for the Hermons, but they remain in the Palmer area to this day.

The God of Endings: A Novel
by Jacqueline Holland

Great Novel for Halloween (10/29/2022)

Vampires have a variety of personalities, just like mortal humans do. In this dark and somewhat realistic novel, perfect for Halloween, immortal vampire Anna is a conscientious female who fears many things, especially being a vampire forever. She is the director and teacher at a preschool specializing in Art, located in New York. She is also compassionate and gullible, even with her students and their families.

However, Anna has a terrifying side to her personality, quite fittingly her earlier life in France during World War II. Occasionally, there is subtle humor, but mostly there is blood, and lots of it. This is a slightly realistic fantasy, but not for the faint of heart. As her first novel, I think the author tried to put too many details in the long, extended life of her main character.

Shadows of Berlin: A Novel
by David R. Gillham

Angry Characters (4/27/2022)

I feel compelled to speak about the tone of this historical novel. The young woman from Berlin and her American husband, living in Manhattan, are an argumentative couple. Both Rachel and Aaron are not likable characters. Rachel’s cranky uncle is also a postwar refugee in New York City. When the three characters speak and interact with each other, they are very opinionated and contrary. These contentious, negative relationships made the story less enjoyable for me. But it did not stop me from finishing the novel, because I wanted to know what secrets Rachel was carrying so deeply in her soul.

The story focuses on Rachel’s inabilities to recover from harsh treatment when she lived in Berlin as a child and teenager during World War II. The book was not an upbeat experience and the life of Rachel Perlman was troubling. That’s probably the point of the novel: Some people never totally recover from the trauma of their past.

Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer

Very Suspenseful (3/8/2022)

May I first mention that this novel has adult content that can be distressful to some readers? Just a mild warning, because the dangerous suspense is what most readers are looking for. It definitely becomes gruesome toward the end of the book.

Sylvie is a beautiful, successful entertainer in the psychic profession. Thomas is a handsome investigative reporter for the LA Times who wants to destroy Sylvie's career so his job as a reporter can be award-winning. There's a cat and a dog mixed into the story to make both characters seem kind and honest. The author has a penchant for creating realistic conversations between the characters. Readers will be focused on the story until the very end because it has many twists.

Take My Hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Realistic Fiction About Birth Control (9/10/2021)

Take My Hand is realistic fiction at its best. A black nurse in 1970's Montgomery Alabama takes a job at a family planning clinic where she becomes a beacon of hope for her poverty stricken patients. Soon, she discovers she is giving injections of a controversial drug, Depo-Provera, to very young girls. The nurse is Civil Townsend, and she wants to improve the lives of her patients, not realizing that her role will create medical consequences for the young ladies. Ms Townsend is an excellent role model as she refuses to give the drug. She also continues her schooling to become a doctor, which is admirable.

Today, long term studies indicate that Depo-Provera still carries an elevated risk for breast cancer, and it offers no protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It is not approved for birth control use in the United States, but is manufactured in Belgium and France for use in 80 countries. More than a million women currently use the injections worldwide.

The Sunset Route: Freight Trains, Forgiveness, and Freedom on the Rails in the American West
by Carrot Quinn

Excellent memoir (7/7/2021)

Forever, I will think of this book every time I see a freight train. But the more important theme is the way the author was treated by her parents when she was a child.

I have questions, many questions. How could her mother have custody of Carrot Quinn and her brother Jordan? Why does this family own items like a sewing machine and hundreds of cigarettes for the mother, when they cannot afford to buy food? How many other children are as neglected as these children? It is possible for memoirs to be embellished? Isn't it wonderful that Carrot Quinn can write such an intriguing memoir? She uses so many excellent metaphors in her writing.

The Sunset Route publishes this week. I think it's right up there with the memoir Educated. It's a gem of a memoir!

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Suspenseful Life of Belle De La Costa Greene (2/5/2021)

I enjoy Marie Benedict's novels because there's always the hint of something suspenseful for the main character. Belle De La Costa Greene is the Personal Librarian for infamous investor and business magnate, J P Morgan. Belle encounters some good choices and some bad choices during her employment, with a great deal of courage and fortitude. Despite her love for family, friends and business associates, she does not possess enough individualism for herself.
The novel, with a New York setting during the early 1900's, follows a similar theme as Carnegie's Maid, also written by Marie Benedict. A pretty young girl takes employment with a very wealthy man in both stories, sharing income with her family. It is an enjoyable story, especially the information about collecting valuable historical art and books. Mr. Morgan's ruthless personality is quite evident.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
by Marie Benedict

Positive Spin on Agatha Christie (11/1/2020)

Marie Benedict has crafted a very good fictional explanation for the brief disappearance of mystery writer Agatha Christie. Both characters, Agatha and Archie Christie, are fully created in their personalities and their lifestyles. The book alternates chapters, told from both husband and wife point-of-views for most of the novel. Archie is quite villainous in character, while Agatha emerges as a strong, self-sufficient woman despite her cheating, loathsome husband. I almost felt like a marriage counselor, trying to mediate their quarrels.

At the Edge of the Haight
by Katherine Seligman

Fictional Account of Homelessness in San Francisco (10/5/2020)

The dire homeless life of 20-year-old Maddy Donaldo is depicted very honestly and vividly in the novel At The Edge of the Haight, written by Katherine Seligman. Why do young people choose to live such a careless and rough lifestyle when they are given opportunities to improve their lives? This is the most important theme throughout the novel.

There is a pecking order among the homeless population in and near the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco. Maddy and her friends Ash, Fleet, and Hope rely upon one another to avoid being victims of theft. But crime and drugs still touch their lives. Maddy and her dog, Root, casually encounter a teenage murder victim in the park. Her life is forever impacted by the gruesome discovery.

The Madwoman and the Roomba: My Year of Domestic Mayhem
by SandraTsing Loh

Just slightly humorous (3/27/2020)

Perhaps if I was reading this novel at a different time in our world, I might have found it more humorous. The author has a strong personality that comes through in her memoir, and she writes about insignificant events in her life without taking herself seriously. Compared to today’s daily news offerings about baby boomers suffering from illnesses, her writing makes light of the over 55 generation. Somehow it just fell short of being enjoyable. Thanks to BookBrowse and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review this book.

The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
by Katherine Sharp Landdeck

Courageous Women as Service Pilots (12/30/2019)

Apparently, it was a popular thing for middle-class and upper-class women to earn their pilots' licenses in the late 1930's. However, the male pilots were reluctant to share the skies and duties with their female counterparts. Midway through World War II, it became necessary for women to step up and help, especially with ferrying airplanes from the factory to the military bases. The female pilots were civilian members and did not receive military benefits until many years later, during President Jimmy Carter's administration. This nonfictional account featuring the history of the WASPS, is quite detailed and well researched. The book features the personal lives and aviation of five important members of the service pilots.

And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
by Stephanie Marie Thornton

Very Believable Kennedy Fiction (12/3/2019)

Myth or legend, the idea of Camelot during the Kennedy political years was proposed by Jackie Kennedy in interviews with journalist Theodore White after JFK's death. Jackie was adept and convincing at creating a positive image from a lamentable life and marriage. Told from Jackie's point of view, this historical fiction does a wonderful job of debunking their fairytale lifestyle.

The novel displays a solid partnership between Jackie and the Kennedy family. Together, they spin an almost fairy-tale image to America and the world. To the contrary, their lives were slightly tragic with attempts to cover up sadness. Jackie helped tremendously with JFK's book, Profiles In Courage, and then she debated leaving him at times. This novel is highly skilled at revealing the contradictions in their lives.

I Want You to Know We're Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir
by Esther Safran Foer

Powerful Ancestral Memoir (11/15/2019)

I have a fascination for historical memoirs, and this one is wonderful. It is full of holocaust history and is specifically knowledgeable about the small Ukrainian towns and their citizens destroyed and murdered by the Nazis.

Astonishing and overwhelming discoveries were made by the author, Esther Safran Foer, after she and her sons began questioning her mother and searching her family's history in Ukraine. Esther and her sons felt a link to their past, and in the process encountered distant relatives and acquaintances who provided valuable information. It is true that ancestral research can provide powerful results.

The Big Finish
by Brooke Fossey

Unexpected Events at Assisted Living (10/4/2019)

Dotted with lighthearted laughter and serious moments, Carl and Duffy reign supreme at the Centennial Assisted Living home where they are roommates. Their lives change suddenly when Carl's granddaughter climbs through the window into their room. Josie has no other place to go, so she begins her slightly unwelcome hideaway at the assisted living facility. The novel quickly becomes realistic, and the characters all mesh as the 5-day encounter makes everyone value life tremendously. The author does an excellent job of storytelling from Duffy's 88-year-old point of view. The happy banter is ongoing, although the heart crushing grief of life and loss occurs just as often.

Reviews by Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)

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Reviews by Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)

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