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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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Slammerkin
by Emma Donoghue

A Gripping, Historical Saga That Reveals the Underbelly of a Brutal World (4/17/2023)

This is a difficult book to read because it is so very sad. But even though this historical novel by Emma Donoghue is raw and emotionally draining, it tells an important story about the 18th century: the plight of girls and women who were abandoned and the degrading, awful …more

Elevation: A Novel
by Stephen King

Disappointing! A Lesson in Tolerance, But Told Without Nuance or Subtlety (4/17/2023)

If the front cover didn't list Stephen King as the author, I would never have guessed he wrote it. Mind you, I don't read horror novels, so I dance around the edges of King's oeuvre, and this one is definitely on that edge. No horror at all, but also not much of a story.

…more

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

Innovative, Imaginative, and Inspiring: A Brilliant and Unforgettable Must-Read Novel (4/17/2023)

If someone were to ask me to describe this incredibly creative book in three words, this is it: Innovative. Imaginative. Inspiring. It may take you a few pages to become accustomed to the highly original writing style, but the payoff is so worth it. This is one of those …more

America for Beginners
by Leah Franqui

I Just Want to Hug This Book! A Delightful and Charming Story About Life, Love, and Truly Living (4/17/2023)

When I was about halfway through reading "America for Beginners" by Leah Franqui, I had the (admittedly odd) thought: I just want to hug this book. In addition to being a delightful story—more enchanting than a page-turner—this book is filled with pithy wit and wisdom about …more

Wolf Hall: A Novel
by Hilary Mantel

Old-Fashioned Storytelling at Its Best: The Life and Drama of Thomas Cromwell (4/17/2023)

History comes vitally alive when it's told not with facts and dates and lists but rather through the drama of the people who lived it. And author Hilary Mantel does a magnificent job of bringing to life Thomas Cromwell, a man long cast as a cunning Machiavellian villain but …more

Miller's Valley: A Novel
by Anna Quindlen

If You Grew Up in the 1960s, This Book Will Likely Resonate with You (4/17/2023)

If you grew up in the 1960s, graduating from high school in the early 1970s, this coming-of-age story is likely to resonate with you. While the novel recounts a girl's passage into adulthood during a somewhat turbulent time, it also pays homage to the power of Mother Nature, …more

This Is How It Always Is
by Laurie Frankel

Oh, This Is SO Good! It's Almost a Perfect Book. Bonus: You'll Be a Better Person for Reading It (4/17/2023)

This book grabbed my heart on page one and never let go. Exquisitely written by Laurie Frankel with aplomb, humor, and a rare insightful emotional intelligence, this is a book about a subject that is so difficult—and to some so disgusting—it's easier to ignore it or, worse, …more

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the 1918 Pandemic
by John M. Barry

Prodigiously Researched and Expertly Written, This Book Has Ramifications for Today and Covid-19 (4/17/2023)

History DOES repeat itself. I read this book about the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, and the similarities are chilling—especially the many elected officials who first mocked it and later denied it, not only radically increasing the …more

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
by Trevor Noah

A Book That Alternates Between Shock and Incredulity and Tragedy—But Will Still Make You Laugh (4/17/2023)

You will never again watch Trevor Noah tell a joke or go on a political tirade without asking yourself this question: How did he do it? How did he grow up to become a functioning human being? Even with the fierce, protective love his mother, Noah lived a precarious and …more

The Red Lotus
by Chris Bohjalian

Hold onto Your Reading Chair! This Intelligent Thriller Takes You on an Exhilarating Ride (4/17/2023)

This novel, written long before "Covid-19" or "coronavirus" were in our everyday lexicon, has an eerie ring of verisimilitude. So if the daily headlines aren't scary enough for you, grab this book—but don't plan on getting anything else done for a while because you won't be …more

Purple Hibiscus
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An Unforgettable Tale of the Power of the Human Psyche in That Liminal Space Between Love and Hate (4/17/2023)

This is a heartbreaking book. And while I believe this may very well be great literature, it is not a book one should read lightly. It is absolutely devastating.

Written by the inimitable Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the lyrical, sometimes gritty prose will take you on a …more

The Good Life
by Jay McInerney

This Is the Literary Equivalent of a Bottle of Champagne—Fizzy and Fun but Not Much Substance (4/17/2023)

This book is the literary equivalent of a bottle of Champagne. It opens with a pop, and while it's fizzy and bubbly and fun, there ultimately isn't much substance to it. Still, it's pretty amazing!

Written by Jay McInerney in his witty and intelligent style, this is the …more

The Gathering
by Anne Enright

Extraordinary, Lyrical Writing, but a Dark and Desolate Story That Is Just So Very Sad (4/17/2023)

Oh, this book is dark. Very, very dark. It is about dying and grief—grief in the myriad ways that the deaths of those we love bruise the human psyche. Adding to the complexity of the story, the death in question is a suicide, which means the "why" will never be answered and …more

Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The Power of This Book: Empathy, Understanding, and a Sense of the Right Questions to Ask (4/17/2023)

The essential power of books is both simple and majestic: Knowledge can change lives. That is the power of this short book by Ta-Nehisi Coates that succinctly and poetically recounts America's racial history both nationally and in the author's own life. And it is absolutely …more

Fruit of the Drunken Tree
by Ingrid Rojas Contreras

An Emotionally Searing Book That Is Ferocious, Gritty, and Tender—And a Really Good Read (4/17/2023)

This is a book about a specific time and place and horror. This is a book about Colombia at the height of the terror-filled reign of drug lord Pablo Escobar. This is a book about a privileged, affluent little girl, as well as her impoverished teenage maid who is the sole …more

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek: A Novel
by Kim Michele Richardson

SO Good! A Gripping, Authentic Saga About Poverty, Prejudice, and the Resilience of the Human Soul (4/17/2023)

In the 1930s in the hardscrabble mountains and hollers of eastern Kentucky food was scarce and jobs were backbreaking, but thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, there were books. Think of it as a bookmobile on a mule. Women (and a …more

So You Want to Talk About Race
by Ijeoma Oluo

Most of All, This Book is Practical. Use It to Positively Change How You Think and Act (4/17/2023)

If you're of a certain age, you'll remember the consciousness-raising sessions that were popularized by feminists in the late 1960s. This brilliantly written book by Ijeoma Oluo is like that—consciousness raising about racism. But it's a lot more than that, and herein lies …more

The Golden Hour
by Beatriz Williams

Once You Start Reading, You Won't Want to Stop! This Novel Left Me Spellbound (4/17/2023)

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! What a book! It has it all: a historical thriller that doubles as a love story (actually two love stories), incredible writing, a colorful cast of characters, and a plot that is so compelling you had better order out because you won't want to stop reading …more to do something as mundane as make dinner for your family.

Written by Beatrix Williams, who I think is THE best living ChickLit writer, this is two seemingly disparate stories that eventually intertwine and then connect.

The first, which takes place in the early 1900s, is about Elfriede, an 18-year-old German beauty who marries a baron and suffers horribly from postpartum depression. She is summarily shipped off to a psychiatric facility in Switzerland to come to her senses. Instead, while there she meets the man who will be the love of her life.

Paralleling this is the story of Lulu, which takes place primarily in the Bahamas at the start of World War II. Lulu, who isn't all she appears to be on the surface, is sent to Nassau to write a monthly gossip column for a New York magazine—a column that is focused on the Duke and Duchess of Wales. Better known as Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson, the couple were essentially banished to the Caribbean after he abdicated the throne, and their friendship with Hitler became not only embarrassing, but also problematic to Great Britain.

While in Nassau, Lulu meets Benedict Thorpe, who is supposedly on the island as a botanist, but is really a spy, and the two fall madly in love at the most inopportune time. Add to this breathtaking plot twists of espionage and murder coupled with bravery, daring, and a kind of courage that borders on fearlessness, and the result is a captivating read.

The multilayered plot is not only juicy, but also intelligent and imaginative. Rich in historical detail, the book ingeniously alternates the two stories with each chapter ending in its own little cliffhanger. Truly, once you start reading it, you won't want to stop. This novel left me spellbound!

Tip: In the first pages of the book, reference is made to the 1890 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and it serves as a thematic anchor to Elfriede's life. I highly recommend reading this very short tale before you read "The Golden Hour." (less)

Valentine
by Elizabeth Wetmore

A Brilliant and Profound Novel About Love, Life, Family, and Faith (4/17/2023)

This is an exceptional book for and about women. It's about the tragedy of rape. It's about the will to survive. It's about what women will do for one another. It's a story that left me shaking and sad, but also feeling heartened and strong.

This is a book that is character …more

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
by Eve Harris

A Brilliant and Profound Novel About Love, Life, Family, and Faith (4/17/2023)

This is an extraordinary novel about love, marriage, family, and faith, and while the title makes it sound like the ultimate ChickLit book, it's not. Written by Eve Harris, this is serious literature that was longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

The plot is …more pretty much nonexistent. Chani, a 19-year-old Orthodox Jew, lives with her family in an Orthodox Jewish community in a London suburb. Her world is very insular. And it's time—really, past time—for her to marry. When Baruch, a 20-year-old man she has never met and whom her family does not know, shows an interest in her, the matchmaker goes to work. After four dates, they are engaged. This is not only their story, but also the story of Chaim and Rivka, the rabbi and his wife. Married more than two decades, their relationship is hardened and fracturing. Their son commits an abominable sin that will forever stain their family. Can they find redemption and hope again?

It is the stark contrast between the two stories—of falling in love and falling away from love—that makes this book so deep and rich.

Bold and vibrant characters are what make the novel sing. The life of an Orthodox Jew, even in 2008 when the book is set, revolves around daily attendance at synagogue, kosher meals, no touching of the opposite sex unless it's within a family, and a vast array of religious practices that determine everything from fashion to food. When young adults, who truly believe everything they have been taught all their lives, collide with a promiscuous and permissive culture, those beliefs and their strict way of life that are at the core of their being are fully tested. And it this conflict that makes the book so brilliant. While the ending was a real surprise (to me, at least), it was also perfect in its own way.

Bonus: While parts of this book are unspeakably sad, other parts are hilarious—especially Chani and Baruch's wedding night. Both have been so purposefully sheltered their entire lives that neither has any idea about the mechanics of sex or even kissing. It's funny, charming, and endearing.

Tip: Yiddish is liberally sprinkled throughout the text, making the glossary of Yiddish terms at the back of the book essential for all who are not versed in Yiddish. Even this Episcopalian learned enough Yiddish to read the second half of the book without consulting the glossary! And the Yiddish adds so much to the flavor of the book that it's worth the extra time to look up the words. (If you're reading this on a Kindle as I did, do bookmark the glossary.) (less)

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