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Reviews by Leslie R. (Arlington, VA)

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The Original Daughter: A Novel
by Jemimah Wei

An Incredible Debut Novel (3/10/2025)

The Original Sister is an extraordinary book, full of powerful description and compelling dialogue. It certainly meets my one criterion for a "good book": it will stay with me forever.

The protagonist is an 8-year-old only child when her family takes in a 7-year-old girl to …more

Girl Falling: A Novel
by Hayley Scrivenor

not for me (9/20/2024)

Before attempting to write a review of Girl Falling, I scanned several articles online about why people read. I was trying to determine why I reacted so negatively to this book. After all, the writing itself was good, I learned something about climbing with ropes, and I …more

This Strange Eventful History: A Novel
by Claire Messud

Beautifully written, but... (4/17/2024)

This beautifully written and very readable book is at the same time strange and unsettling. The author follows the lives of an Algerian couple and their children and grandchildren from 1940 to 2010. Set in Algeria, France, Argentina, and Australia, the chapters weave back …more

Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York
by Barbara Weisberg

ho-hum (12/23/2023)

Anecdote: When I was an elementary school principal, I was "investigating" a case of catsup squirting in the cafeteria. After some discussion, I asked my main witness, "what happened then?" to which she replied, "I don't know; I kind of lost interest." And that was exactly …more

Iron Curtain: A Love Story
by Vesna Goldsworthy

Well written is not enough (1/13/2023)

It is difficult to write a review without a spoiler, but then what would you spoil? The reader anticipates the ending from the beginning. A privileged young woman whose father is a powerful figure in a Communist-bloc country (never named) defects for love. If the reader …more

Wade in the Water: A Novel
by Nyani Nkrumah

insights and questions (11/6/2022)

In a small town in rural Mississippi a white Princeton scholar forms a friendship with a precocious pre-teen black girl. I was prepared to not like this book before I read the first page. Having grown up in the South in the late fifties, I lived this era so I am wary of …more

Dinosaurs: A Novel
by Lydia Millet

too literary for me (9/4/2022)

Having me review this book is probably a disservice to the author. I am a pedestrian reader; I like a beginning, a plot, an ending, and some relatable characters. Dinosaurs is a beautifully written novel, but it is lacking these elements. I am sure there is a literary …more

The Poet's House
by Jean Thompson

Hard to review (6/12/2022)

Usually I have no trouble expressing my opinion about a book, but this time I want to ask the other reviewers "What did you think?" I don't have a feel for whether other readers will like this book or not. What I know for sure: I was never bored; the writing was supremely …more

Fly Girl: A Memoir
by Ann Hood

Not what I expected (4/3/2022)

My first thoughts as I began reading Fly Girl: it is certainly well-written, and it is interesting to me; but it won't exactly have a universal audience. Having finished it now, I think: who would not enjoy reading this book?
Ms. Hood has managed to weave personal anecdotes …more

Activities of Daily Living: A Novel
by Lisa Hsiao Chen

Not for everyone (1/9/2022)

Activities of Daily Living by Lisa Hsiao Chen is beautifully written, with unique descriptions and many meaningful insights. The basic plot (although that term is a stretch, as is the designations of novel) revolves around a young Chinese girl who moved to America as a …more

The Lost Notebook of Edouard Manet: A Novel
by Maureen Gibbon

Art, History, Philosophy (6/18/2021)

If you have a modicum of curiosity, you will read this book with your computer by your side. I took French in college as well as Art Appreciation, but I still spent hours looking up information on people, places, and events that were integral to Manet's story. The entire …more

Black Widows: A Novel
by Cate Quinn

Just my cup of tea (12/23/2020)

I wish I had never read this book...so I could start over! As an inveterate reader of fiction, drawn to murder mysteries, courtroom drama, and police procedurals, I have read many books advertised as "page turners," even one called "un-putdownable." I have always dismissed …more

The Last Train to Key West
by Chanel Cleeton

Coincidences Abound (3/11/2020)

Having read both Next Year in Havana and When We Left Cuba, I looked forward to reading this author's new book. The premise was intriguing: three women whose lives intertwined during the horrific 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys. (Suggestion to readers: learn the facts …more

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

As If You Were There (12/15/2019)

How challenging it must be for an author to write in first person about an iconic figure that many people in the reading audience will remember. Ms. Thornton emphasizes in her author notes that this is a book of fiction, and she goes on to explain how and when she took …more

Never Have I Ever
by Joshilyn Jackson

expect the unexpected (4/9/2019)

Having read several Joshilyn Jackson novels, I began this one with certain expectations; but those expectations fell quickly away as I began asking myself why I continued to read. I do not like books with evil and unpredictable characters and deep, mysterious psychotic …more

French Exit
by Patrick deWitt

"Now came strangenesses." (2/14/2018)

When I read this first sentence of Chapter 36, I laughed out loud. In an entire book of "strangenesses," it would be hard to conceive of any more. From the beginning, I imagined this book as a play, perhaps an off-Broadway farce. I could picture each character as an actor …more

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