THE NIGHTINGALE by Krisitn Hannah

THE NIGHTINGALE  by Kristin Hannah

Do not be put off by the “women’s fiction” classification of this book. THE NIGHTINGALE is a well- researched, well written discussion of the realities, cruelties and decisions that face an ordinary family in Vichy France.  The book,  beginning in 1938 as war approaches, is told from the viewpoint of the surviving sister many years later.  The family, father and two sisters, is torn apart by their individual decisions when one sister and her children are forced to house a German officer in the family home in a small village after her husband joins the Allied Forces.  The father, remaining in Paris, attempts to continue the family’s bookstore, while the second daughter chooses to join the resistance.

Village life under occupation and the dangers of resistance are clearly shown.  The characters and situations are well developed and realistic.  The supporting characters are shown to be humans acting under extreme duress – the good are not always good and the bad are not always bad.

I would have preferred to learn more about Rachel and her plight after she is forced from her job early in the occupation. We never quite learn how she is able to survive and seemingly thrive with no money and no way to get any.

Book groups will have a plethora of topics to discuss, including what decisions they would make concerning “outing” Jews, lying to friends and family, fraternizing with the enemy, murder, resistance, and many others.

5 of 5 stars

THE WALLED CITY by Ryan Gaudin

The Walled City is a fast moving novel based on the real Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.  The three “heroes” of the novel are Mei Yee, a young girl sold into human trafficking by her father, Jin, her sister who has entered the Walled City posing as a boy, and Dai, a mysterious youth who may or may not be able to help Jin find and rescue her sister.  The protagonists are Kuen and his pack of predatory and sadistic youth who bring terror on the inhabitants of the Walled City and Longwai, the gangster who runs the Walled City and the brothel that holds Mei Yee.

Although the basis of this tale is human trafficking, sex is almost non-existent in the book.  The horror, brutality and hopelessness endured by the girls who are trafficked is, however, clearly shown.  Perhaps this is because the book is being presented as a young adult novel.  Nothing is lost for adults because the fast pace and clever plotting hold the attention of the reader and the nuances are clear. The characters are real, the conversations are not strained and the texture of the city and surrounding area all combine to present a gripping story well worth your time.

If you are not aware of the relationship of the novel to Kowloon Walled City (revealed in the afternotes) the novel has the feel of a fantasy.  The one small defect is the possibly too pat ending.

5 out of 5 stars.

THE REBELLION OF MISS LUCY ANN LOBDELL by William Klaber

THE REBELLION OF MISS LUCY ANN LOBDELL   by William Klaber

This was such an interesting story and yet so sad.  Lucy Ann, who lived most of her life as a man, was a remarkable person.  Abandoned by a beater husband and left with a small daughter to care for. She returned “home” to an unforgiving family.  After donning men’s clothing and cutting her hair she left her daughter behind to establish herself as a “proper wage earner” in a society that did not look kindly on divorce or even spinsterhood.

Klaber’s well researched volume relates Lucy Ann’s life with sympathy and sensitivity.  He deals with her misfortunes when discovered to be a woman dressing as a man and a woman living as husband with another woman.  The late 1800’s were not good years for a non-conforming woman.

Book groups will find a wealth of topics for discussion – our treatment of non-conformists, religion, woman’s roles, men’s roles, mothers who desert their children, “fallen” women, lesbians, mental illness, insane asylums and many others.

5 of 5 stars

The Good Dream by Donna Vanliere

THE GOOD DREAM    by Donna Van Liere

This was a quick read that held my attention to the end.    The story has two problems that occur to me. Although the action takes place only over a summer, the relationships that developed would likely take much longer to develop in “real life.”  Also, the boy’s disability (cleft palate) is unrealistically presented.

Setting aside the believability factor, the tale is well told, the characters are well developed and the place and time of the story are realistic and well described. The conversation and actions of the characters are correct for the time and place. 

Van Liere is described as a “Christian” writer but this tale is only briefly and peripherally “Christian”, rather the people and actions are those of well-meaning and moral people of any, or no, faith. I was pleased that not all the situations and persons get a happy ending in this charming tale of life in small town 1950’s era Tennessee.

3 ½ stars of 5

THE JOB by Evonovich and Goldberg

THE JOB  by Janet  Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

If you can suspend belief and think that FBI and CIA folk actually work the way they are depicted in this book, then you will like this take down of a notorious bad guy by an FBI operative and her criminal “charge.”  The authors have done a good job of explaining how the take down worked.  The characters are likeable and well crafted.  The “love story” element is just believable enough to be interesting. There is plenty of action. All the loose ends are neatly tied up.  This is a fun and quick read even if not very memorable. 

There is one problem with the story. I cringed when I read the arrogant “ugly American” remark in reference to the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace.  “I know all about them. I saw a special on the Travel Channel...”   I have seen the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace in person and a “TV special” could not possibly do them justice.  It was a throw away remark, but it jumped out at me as it would to anyone who has been in Istanbul and it would be quite offensive to locals.  Evanovich and Goldberg should know better. If they don’t, then their editor/fact checker should have challenged this remark and others.

4 of 5 stars for the genre.

GRAY MOUNTAIN by John Grisham

GRAY MOUNTAIN  by John Grisham

This book has something for, and about, everyone – rich people and poor people, innocents and the guilty, environmentalists and clear cutters, big law and legal aid, murderers and the murdered, the cheats and the honest, those who love and those they love. Because Grisham is a good writer he can take all these disparate ideas and combine them into a cogent and quick moving novel. 

Gray Mountain used to be a primeval wonderland of pristine acreage in the Appalachian Range, but now, after the land has been taken over by big coal, it is a wasteland of detritus and denuded mud leveled into a “stump” of a mountain. Additionally, big coal is the bad guy in an ongoing dispute over black lung and the minors who suffer loss of health and loss of jobs.  The downturn of the recent recession makes its appearance and enables suddenly unemployed, but talented, big city lawyers to become  legal aid interns in backwater hamlets.

The characters are human and well developed. The conversations and situations are believable and convincing.  The good guys and the bad guys are obvious, so if you are a proponent of big coal or cutthroat lawyers you might find yourself cringing a bit.

Altogether a well written, fast paced mystery with a bit of romance and a lot of environmentalism.

5 of 5 stars